Cluster randomised controlled trial of ‘whole school’child maltreatment prevention programme in primary schools in Northern Ireland: study protocol for Keeping Safe

Date

2018

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

BMC Public Health

Abstract

Child maltreatment has a pervasive, detrimental impact on children’s wellbeing. Despite a growing focus on prevention through school based education, few programmes adopt a whole- school approach, are multi-component, seek to address all forms of maltreatment, or indeed have been robustly evaluated. This paper describes a cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate a school based child maltreatment prevention programme: ‘Keeping Safe’ in primary schools in Northern Ireland. The intervention has been designed by a non-profit agency. Programme resources include 63 lessons taught incrementally to children between four and 11 years old, and is premised on three core themes: healthy relationships, my body, and being safe. There are programme resources to engage parents and to build the capacity and skills of school staff.

Description

Keywords

research, school based programs, International Resources, Ireland, prevention

Citation

McElearney, A., Brennan-Wilson, A., Murphy, C., Stephenson, P., & Bunting, B. (2018). Cluster randomised controlled trial of ‘whole school’child maltreatment prevention programme in primary schools in Northern Ireland: study protocol for Keeping Safe. BMC public health, 18(1), 590.

DOI