Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Training Program on Violence against Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Assistance in health services is often the first possibility for the identification of cases of Violence Against Children and Teenagers (VACT). Therefore, the aim of this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program developed to enable students and health professionals to recognize and report cases of VACT. Additionally, we sought to verify at what level of training (undergraduate, postgraduate or working professional) such intervention would show the greatest effect. Method: This is a quasi-experimental study, of which design was based on the analysis of a non-equivalent Control Group (CG). The research included undergraduate medical students, postgraduate medical students attending pediatric residency and professionals working in health institutions. A total of 105 people participated, of which 89% were women. The participants were subsequently subdivided between the Experimental Group - EG (n = 60) and Control Group - CG (n = 45). A training program on the topic, consisting of 10 sessions (20h in total), was developed and applied with an EG. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, a questionnaire was applied at previously determined periods (pre-test and post-test). The data were submitted to statistical analysis (descriptive analyses, t test and Tukey’s multiple comparison test), using the software R. Results: The post-test showed statistically significant changes in all dimensions evaluated with the EG, which proves that the intervention resulted in changes regarding the previous conceptions that the participants had about VACT. Additionally, when comparing the responses obtained in the questionnaires between the three EG groups (undergraduate, postgraduate students and working professionals), it was verified that there were no statistical differences between the groups, suggesting that educational programs have positive effects on all levels of training. Conclusions: This study showed that training programs can qualify the conception of students and health professionals, as well as help them feel more prepared to deal with the demands related to VACT. However, a collective effort is needed so that these contents are purposefully incorporated into the training process at all levels, from undergraduate school to continuing education.