| Description |
Each year, thousands of children in the United States and Utah suffer physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse. In addition, children who are victims of abuse are more likely to be neglected, abandoned, or exposed to domestic violence. A high proportion of abused, neglected, or abandoned children experience physical health conditions, mental distress, developmental problems, and emotional stress. Children who are removed from their homes due to safety concerns may be placed with relatives, foster care, or in emergency shelters. One such children's emergency shelter is the Christmas Box House in Salt Lake City, Utah. The children in temporary emergency shelters must be continually evaluated for health problems and promptly treated. Often, the tasks of administering prescribed medications or treatment fall on the residential staff at the emergency shelter. The purpose of the project was to develop and implement health educational modules about common pediatric health conditions based on identified learning needs of the residential staff. Four primary objectives were designed to meet this purpose: a) develop a total of 5 modules, b) adapt the modules to an online platform for ease and convenience, c) evaluate the staff's understanding, and d) disseminate the findings. An application to the University of Utah Department of Health Institutional Review Boards was petitioned for the project; however, further review was not deemed necessary due to the nature of the project. Many health consequences have been documented in abused, neglected, or abandoned children. However, there was lack of data regarding training of residential staff in managing or caring for children with physical health problems. Because the residential staff did not have any official medical or nursing training, this project sought to address the gap by developing and implementing training modules for the residential staff at the local children's crisis shelter. The 5 modules covered physical health topics of asthma, diabetes, anaphylaxis, head lice, and common skin problems. The modules were then adapted to an online platform for easy access and convenience, and to serve as a template for future learning modules. Three of the 5 modules were used for pilot testing and in-person training to ensure usability, comprehension, and health literacy. A pre and post survey was used to assess effectiveness of the modules. Content experts and the project chair evaluated all the modules for accuracy and completeness prior to dissemination. Thirty-three to 36 participants completed the pre- and post-implementation survey. Data analysis using descriptive statics showed improvement in knowledge of anaphylaxis, diabetes, and asthma by 39%, 47%, and 36% in that order. Improvements in skill were 68%, 40%, and 39% for anaphylaxis, diabetes and asthma respectively. Comfort level also improved by 47%, 33%, and 45% for anaphylaxis, diabetes, and asthma correspondingly. Abused, neglected, or abandoned children are at increased risk for health problems, and thus require prompt and continuous healthcare in order to prevent both short-term and long-term repercussions. Educating non-healthcare workers such as residential staff to safely and promptly perform basic tasks such as administering medications is a prudent and necessary step in curbing under-treated or poorly managed health conditions in this population. |
