How Do Child-Protection Practitioners Make Decisions in Real-Life Situations? Lessons from the Psychology of Decision Making

et al. 2019

Preprint

Background: Dutch child and youth health care (CYHC) practitioners monitor and assess the well-being of all children. One of their main concerns is identifying cases of child abuse, which is an arduous and sensitive task. They use both evidence-based guidelines aimed at increasing the quality of care through rationalised decision-making and intuition. These two practices are seen as being at odds with each other, yet empirical research has shown that both are needed in healthcare. This study aims to understand how Dutch CYHC-practitioners perceive the role of intuition in their work and in relation to evidence-based medicine, in the case of child abuse.Methods: A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. In-depth semi-structured interviews with CYHC-practitioners focused on perceptions on intuition, which was followed by a survey amongst CYHC-professionals on the recognition and use of the concept.Results: The majority of CYHC-practitioners and professionals recognise and use intuition in their daily work, stating that it is necessary in their profession. CYHC-practitioners use intuition: 1) to sense that something is off, 2) to differentiate between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, 3) to assess risks, 4) to weigh secondary information and 5) to communicate with parents. At the same time, they warn for its dangers as it may lead to tunnel vision and false accusations. Their ways of working with intuition show parallels to the practices that evidence-based guidelines try to support.Conclusion: Intuition is experienced as an integral part of the work of CYHC-practitioners. It is stated to be particularly useful in the case of child abuse, which is inherently complex as signs and evidence of abuse are hidden, subtle and unique in each case. CYHC-practitioners use intuition to manage and navigate this complexity. As there is a lack of guidance on how to practice intuition, there is a need for support through guidelines.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating complexity through intuition and evidence-based guidelines: a mix-methods study among child and youth healthcare practitioners

et al. 2019

Preprint

Section: Discussion 14supporting

confidence: 92%

Navigating complexity through intuition and evidence-based guidelines: a mix-methods study among child and youth healthcare practitioners

et al. 2019

Preprint

Background Dutch child and youth health care (CYHC) practitioners monitor and assess the well-being of all children. One of their main concerns is identifying cases of child abuse, which is an arduous and sensitive task. They use both evidence-based guidelines aimed at increasing the quality of care through rationalised decision-making and intuition. These two practices are seen as being at odds with each other, yet empirical research has shown that both are needed in healthcare. This study aims to understand how Dutch CYHC-practitioners perceive the role of intuition in their work and in relation to evidence-based medicine, in the case of child abuse.Methods A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. In-depth semi-structured interviews with CYHC-practitioners focused on perceptions on intuition, which was followed by a survey amongst CYHC-professionals on the recognition and use of the concept.Results The majority of CYHC-practitioners and professionals recognise and use intuition in their daily work, stating that it is necessary in their profession. CYHC-practitioners use intuition: 1) to sense that something is off, 2) to differentiate between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, 3) to assess risks, 4) to weigh secondary information and 5) to communicate with parents. At the same time, they warn for its dangers as it may lead to tunnel vision and false accusations. Their ways of working with intuition show parallels to the practices that evidence-based guidelines try to support.Conclusion Intuition is experienced as an integral part of the work of CYHC-practitioners. It is stated to be particularly useful in the case of child abuse, which is inherently complex as signs and evidence of abuse are hidden, subtle and unique in each case. CYHC-practitioners use intuition to manage and navigate this complexity. As there is a lack of guidance on how to practice intuition, there is a need for support through guidelines.

“…Interestingly, our quantitative sample included not only CYHC-practitioners, but also other professions working in the field (nurses, assistants), however the quantitative results regarding the utility and use of intuition were homogenous among the different profession groups. These findings reflect those of similar studies on health professionals' use of intuition in the case of child abuse [8,9,39,40].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Navigating complexity through intuition and evidence-based guidelines: a mix-methods study among child and youth healthcare practitioners

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background Dutch child and youth health care (CYHC) practitioners monitor and assess the well-being of all children. One of their main concerns is identifying cases of child abuse, which is an arduous and sensitive task. They use both evidence-based guidelines aimed at increasing the quality of care through rationalised decision-making, and intuition. These two practices are seen as being at odds with each other, yet empirical research has shown that both are needed in healthcare. This study aims to understand how Dutch CYHC-practitioners perceive the role of intuition in their work and in relation to evidence-based medicine, in the case of child abuse. Methods A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design: in-depth semi-structured interviews with CYHC-practitioners focused on perceptions on intuition, which were followed by a survey amongst CYHC-professionals on the recognition and use of the concept. Results The majority of CYHC-practitioners and professionals recognise and use intuition in their daily work, stating that it is necessary in their profession. CYHC-practitioners use intuition: 1) to sense that something is off, 2) to differentiate between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, 3) to assess risks, 4) to weigh secondary information and 5) to communicate with parents. At the same time, they warn for its dangers as it may lead to tunnel vision and false accusations. Their ways of working with intuition show parallels to the practices that evidence-based guidelines try to support. Conclusion Intuition is experienced as an integral part of the work of CYHC-practitioners. It is stated to be particularly useful in the case of child abuse, which is inherently complex as signs and evidence of abuse are hidden, subtle and unique in each case. CYHC-practitioners use intuition to manage and navigate this complexity. As there is a lack of guidance on how to practice intuition, there is a need for support through guidelines.