Multidisciplinary team, resource availability are also factors, according to CPT experts
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Hospital-based child protection teams (CPT) are most effective when working within a collegial, multidisciplinary environment, according to research published online June 29 in Pediatrics.
Caroline J. Kistin, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted four rounds of surveys of professionals with experience working on or with CPTs and used a modified Delphi approach to create an expert consensus of factors that contribute to CPT effectiveness. Twenty-six participants completed the first three rounds, and 20 completed the final round, which involved ranking variables associated with effectiveness.
The researchers found that experts believed CPTs should provide several services, including communication of findings to appropriate agencies, court testimony, medical consultations, forensic interviews, and multidisciplinary case review. Participants ranked variables including collaboration (95 percent of participants), provision of resources (80 percent), and team collegiality (75 percent) as most critical to effectiveness. Variables that the experts considered most detrimental were inadequate staffing (85 percent) and lack of collegiality (80 percent). The researchers concluded that a multidisciplinary team and a collegial working relationship were the key to an effective CPT.
"A multidisciplinary team working in a collegial atmosphere with active hospital support seems to be the major key to effectiveness. CPTs should focus their internal efforts on improving member collegiality and encouraging active interdisciplinary collaboration and should seek performance feedback from professional groups and CPT members," the authors write.
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