Safeguarding preschool children: A public health perspective

Abstract

This article proposes a safeguarding model based on public health principles appropriate for health visitors in routine practice, focusing on the idea of safeguarding as primary prevention of maltreatment. Ecological risk is the current best model for the aetiology of maltreatment but may be hard to assess in practice, so assessment of social capital is proposed as a convenient simplification of this in primary care. The importance of combining clinical evaluation (monitoring) with structured normed assessment tools is demonstrated. Policy frameworks for safeguarding are discussed as maps to guide interventions, which ensure timely delivery of appropriate services in a coordinated fashion. The most important skills for safeguarding children are those related to developmental assessment, family functioning, and understanding complex and disorganised case information.