Development of Intersectoral Responses to Child Maltreatment Prevention Worldwide

Dr. Marcellina Mian

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

Dr. Mian’s career has had two areas of focus: medical education and child protection. She began as Director of Medical Education at the North Shore Children's Hospital (Salem, MA) and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Tufts University (Boston). In 1980 she joined The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (Canada) and reached the rank of Professor of Paediatrics, with a cross appointment in the Department of Public Health. She was Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for 8 years before her move to Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) in 2006. Since then Dr. Mian has filled several roles at WCMC-Q, and is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Medical Education. Her current interest in education is enhancing the performance of international students in an American-based medical education system.

Dr. Mian has been active at the local, national and international level in organizations that aim at
child maltreatment prevention. At SickKids, she was a member of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program for 26 years and in 2009/2010 was Medical Director of the Child
Protection Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She has been a member of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse (ISPCAN) since 1984 and its president from 2002 to 2004. She has provided consultation to the World Health Organization on developing guidelines for an integrated multi-sectoral approach to child maltreatment prevention worldwide and on related training materials. In Qatar, Dr. Mian is part of a group of professionals at Hamad Medical Corporation that established a hospital-based SCAN team. Dr. Mian has been active in conducting research on child maltreatment and medical education.
She has written a number of articles and been a presenter on these subjects at numerous conferences internationally.

Abstract

Intersectoral responses, involving multiple disciplines, provide the most effective approach to child maltreatment prevention. Key elements are the legal sector, including law enforcement, the health and social sectors. The legal sector, through government bodies is responsible for developing an infrastructure that allows children to have a safe childhood. It is responsible for enacting, promulgating and enforcing laws relating specifically to child protection and those that facilitate intersectoral responses, accompanied by the allocation of necessary funds. The health sector is key to providing primary care intended to promote healthy children, as well as the identification, assessment and treatment of children suspected of maltreatment, their families and offenders. The social sector also provides the necessary education and resources for parents to raise healthy, well-adjusted children. It too is responsible for the identification of children at risk for maltreatment, assessment of the families, provision of support and, if necessary, alternate placements for vulnerable children. Other sectors, including education, religious bodies, NGO’s and the community at large are also key to an effective coordinated approach. Implementing functioning intersectoral teams requires much cooperation to overcome challenges related to existing laws and customs within a community, different education, culture and mandates of each of the sectors, as well as perceived hierarchies between sectors and disciplines. One of the sectors must be chosen to be the first among equals and lead the response. Policies and procedures need to be developed to guide the functioning of the different components, together with the necessary education that allows each sector to make its position known and to learn about the role of all the others. Some communities have developed sophisticated intersectoral responses, through child advocacy centers or other means, while some communities have virtually no relationship between the different sectors and many communities lie somewhere in between.

Session

KN-5 » Plenary Session (10:00 - Tuesday, 29th September, Grand Ballroom)

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