Examining the Need for Psychosocial Services in Pediatric Non-Accidental Trauma

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dc.contributor.authorO'Bannon, S. N.
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-26T20:11:57Z
dc.date.available2019-02-26T20:11:57Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractChild abuse is a significant issue within our society. In 2014, there were a reported 702,208 cases of child abuse and neglect across the country, with nearly 120,000 suffering from physical abuse. Research has shown the adverse physical and psychological consequences of child maltreatment. Despite what we know about the benefits of early intervention for this population, the degree of implementation of psychosocial interventions, specifically in a hospital setting, remains unclear. In an initial study that utilized archival data from the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) Trauma Registry Database, researchers found that the majority of children admitted to the hospital for non-accidental trauma (NAT) received minimal inpatient psychosocial services and psychosocial referrals at discharge. Given the gravity of these statistics, this doctoral project sought to verify the initial findings of the archival data through an in-depth chart review. A random sample of 20% (n=151) of the original 746 archival charts were selected. Subjects were previous pediatric patients at LLUCH who sustained a traumatic injury and whose case was identified as NAT. The results of the current study were consistent with previous findings and demonstrated that Pediatric Psychology saw 5.3% of children while inpatient and only 4.6% were referred for an inpatient consultation by a separate psychological service. Furthermore, a mere 3.3% of the sample received a psychosocial referral upon discharge. While the majority of the sample (87.4%) received a social work referral, only 52% of those children were actually seen. Finally, while the current study found higher rates of referrals to Child Protective Services (CPS; 82.8%) compared to the previous findings (67.6%), it highlighted that 17.2% of the sample was not referred to CPS despite the mandated referral. This study demonstrated that psychosocial services needed to address the impact of trauma are often not being provided at LLUCH. In an attempt to evaluate if this was a more pervasive problem, researchers reviewed the National Trauma Database and determined that the important search fields for psychosocial supports are not available. This data underscores the importance of improving the coordination of care between pediatric psychology, psychosocial services, and the medical field.en_US
dc.identifier.citationO'Bannon, S. N. (2019). Examining the Need for Psychosocial Services in Pediatric Non-Accidental Trauma. Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1531&context=etd
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/4266
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherLoma Linda Universityen_US
dc.subjectmental health servicesen_US
dc.subjectchild abuseen_US
dc.subjectneglecten_US
dc.subjectlong term adverse effectsen_US
dc.subjectresearchen_US
dc.titleExamining the Need for Psychosocial Services in Pediatric Non-Accidental Traumaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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