A theoretical framework for interprofessional child welfare expertise

Objective: Development of a theoretical framework for interprofessional child welfare expertise. Rationale: Research across a variety of professions indicates that professionals find child welfare to be one of the most... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: Development of a theoretical framework for interprofessional child welfare expertise.

Rationale: Research across a variety of professions indicates that professionals find child welfare to be one of the most stressful aspects of their practice and one for which they feel poorly prepared. Issues of interprofessional complexity are at the heart of the challenges experienced and expressed by most professionals, and are consistently evident in public inquiries into children’s maltreatment related deaths or serious injuries; indeed the prevention of child maltreatment has been compared to a jigsaw puzzle with various professionals holding one or more pieces. Yet there are no theoretical frameworks or evidence base identifying interprofessional child welfare expertise. This vacuum constitutes a significant barrier to the development of a skilled and capable child welfare workforce with increasingly procedural and managerial approaches being used in place of professional judgement.

Methods: This study triangulated data from three sources: 1. A systematic review and analysis of international peer-reviewed literature across the domains of Education, Nursing, Social Work, and Child Welfare; 2. Review and analysis of findings from published inquiries into child maltreatment related deaths and serious injuries; and 3. Findings from an empirical UK study of perceptions of interprofessional child welfare expertise among emerging and experienced practitioners across Education, Nursing, and Social Work. Three conceptual frameworks were integrated to facilitate data analysis: Yielder’s (2009) integrated model of professional expertise, Kinchin and Cabot’s (2010) dual processing model of professional expertise, and the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative’s (2010) national interprofessional competency framework.

Results: Emerging findings indicate a multidimensional theoretical framework encompassing knowledge and skills across contextual, interpersonal, and practice domains.

Conclusions: Development of a theoretical framework for interprofessional child welfare expertise is the first step towards better professional preparation for child welfare practice; empirical validation of the framework is ongoing.