Review of the Screening Tool for Child Abuse by Health Care Provider

Abstract

The recent report regarding the death of children due to child abuse brought on an implementation of an Act on special cases concerning the punishment, etc. of crimes of child abuse in September 2014. According to the report in 2013 by the National Child Protectin Agency, there were 10,000 suspected child abuse cases, with about 6,000 confirmed cases. While health care providers are obligated to report suspected child abuse, the rate of report was only less than 1%. Several studies suggest that the ease of screening process for child abuse in hospitals could increase the insight and reporting rate. With regard to the improvement in the perception for child abuse by health care providers in Korea, the authors reviewed the health care provider's roles for the protection of child abuse victims, various kinds of screening tools for child abuse in hospitals, and clinical processes for the evaluation of child abuse by a child protection team. Key Words: Child Abuse; Early Diagnosis; Hospitals; Health Personnel; Child Welfare