Child maltreatment prevention readiness in Bahrain
Fadheela T Al-Mahroos1, Aysha A Alnoaimi2, Eshraq A AlAmer3
1College of Medicine & Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain.
Insights
Bahrain shows low to moderate readiness for a national child maltreatment (CM) prevention program. Key areas like legislation are strong, but human resources and community attitudes require significant improvement for effective CM prevention.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Child Welfare
- Program Implementation Science
Background:
- Child maltreatment (CM) is a significant global public health issue.
- While Bahrain has improved its response to CM, prevention efforts remain limited.
- This study assesses readiness for a national evidence-based CM prevention (CMP) program in Bahrain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the preparedness of Bahrain for implementing a national, evidence-based child maltreatment prevention program.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses in the current landscape of CM prevention in Bahrain.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study design was employed.
- Data were collected from 45 key informants with decision-making influence over CM prevention.
Main Results:
- Overall readiness for a national CMP program was assessed as low to moderate.
- Highest scores were observed for legislation, mandates, policies (7.9) and knowledge of CM prevention (7.2).
- Lowest scores indicated significant gaps in human and technical resources (1.2), attitudes toward CM prevention (3.3), and material resources (3.8).
Conclusions:
- Bahrain has identified specific strengths and gaps crucial for developing responsive CMP programs.
- A comprehensive and well-resourced CMP program necessitates collaborative efforts from legislators, political leaders, and professionals.
- Addressing resource limitations and fostering positive attitudes are key to successful CM prevention.
Background And Objectives:
Child maltreatment (CM) is a major public health problem worldwide. Despite the well-documented cases of all forms of CM and the improvement of the national response to CM in Bahrain, efforts on the prevention of CM are still limited. The objective of this study was to assess the readiness to implement a national evidence-based CM prevention (CMP) program in Bahrain.
Methods:
The cross-sectional study was conducted with 45 key informants who had influence and decision-making power over CMP.
Results:
The overall score indicated low to moderate readiness. The key informants scored the highest on legislation, mandates, and policies (7.9), which was followed by the knowledge of CM prevention (7.2), institutional resources and links (5.2), and informal social resources (noninstitutional) (5.2). However, the lowest scores were the human and technical resources (1.2), attitudes toward CM prevention (3.3), will to address the problem, and material resources (3.8), current programs implementation and evaluation, and scientific data on CM prevention (4.5).
Conclusion:
This research has identified strengths and gaps in the country that needs to be addressed to develop programs that are responsive to the needs of the community. The development of a comprehensive well-resourced CMP program requires the collaborative efforts of legislators, political leaders, and professionals.
