Interagency practice in children with non-organic failure to thrive: is there a gap between health and social care?

Abstract

Failure to thrive is a child protection issue that crosses the boundaries between many professional groups. It is a condition that places children at risk of negative developmental, social, physical and emotional consequences, but it has complex causal roots. Although there are known to be links between neglect, emotional abuse and failure to thrive, health and social care providers have differing responses and interventions with children who are failing to thrive. An examination of recent Scottish statistics supports the argument that there may be a gap between health and social care that some children may be falling through. Evidence from the literature regarding interagency roles and responsibilities is ambiguous, and the different, albeit overlapping, professional constructions of failure to thrive may result in a gap in care for some vulnerable children. It is only by beginning to understand the crucial links between different professions that we can contribute towards effective interagency child protection policy and practice. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘Failure to thrive’ revisited

“…Identification of faltering growth often involves both health and social care staff. Thus, it is particularly important that we establish a common understanding of terminology and causality (Taylor and Daniel, 1999) and that any assumptions that FTT must be a child protection issue are challenged (Sidebotham, 2000;Wright, 2005). Has there been a full assessment of all factors potentially contributing to the child's poor growth?…”

Salutogenesis as a framework for child protection: literature review

“…Whilst all vectors are summarized, they are intended here as illustrative of the argument for the utility of salutogenesis. Substantive debate of the links between parenting, social factors and FTT is described elsewhere (Taylor & Daniel 1999).…”

Barriers to collaboration on behalf of children with challenging behaviours: a large qualitative study of five constituent groups

“…While clear communication and shared understanding may be important, generally, the salience of these issues may be heightened under certain conditions. For example, when there is a lack of clear conceptual clarity about how best to intervene in clinical issues, or when practitioners operate from a wide variety of theories about causation (Ladwa‐Thomas & Sanders 1999; Taylor & Daniel 1999). These may be precisely the conditions that exist for those supporting children in out‐of‐home care with challenging behaviour, as the evidence base for intervention in this population is not yet fully developed (Craven & Lee 2006).…”