The knowledge, skills and attitudes of prehospital emergency care providers with regard to infant abuse in South Africa and the development of an educational intervention

Abstract

Infant abuse is a poorly recognised problem in the prehospital setting. Much work has been done in the international setting describing the problems associated with assessment and recognition of the infant patient who has been physically abused. In South Africa there is very little information on the knowledge, skills and understanding of prehospital emergency care providers about infant abuse, and less information available about how the problem of assessing, recognising and reporting of infant abuse can be taught. A needs analysis of the knowledge, skills and attitudes was conducted, with the intention to create an online educational intervention to effect change in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of emergency care providers when dealing with infant abuse. The study enrolled 71 respondents, who answered questions and case studies related to infant abuse in an online questionnaire. Data were analysed descriptively, using Statistica (version 12) and a learning intervention was created to meet the knowledge and skills gaps identified. The intervention was created with the intention of addressing attitudes of the respondents through engagement in case studies in an attempt to illicit emotional responses to change the way prehospital emergency care providers interact with and deal with the abuse of the infant patient. Trends that were identified in the study were difficulty in assessing infants, recognising abuse consistently across different cases, and applying the laws to reporting these cases. Respondents were inconsistent in the application of the legal requirements and were often unsure of the specific red flags that should be recognised. More research should be conducted to determine whether an online intervention is a viable tool to effect change in knowledge, skills and attitudes towards infant abuse in the prehospital care.