When multidisciplinary clinical practice and research meet: Quality development in the Danish Children Centers

Collaboration between clinical practice and research is often warranted. Extended periods of collaboration integrating research and practice is however rare. This article is about a series of joint research projects through the course of 8 years involving the Danish Center of Psychotraumatology and five regional centres dedicated to combating the sequelae of child abuse across Denmark.

We describe the development of a standardized assessment battery and how this work evolves, analyses of administrative data, what happens after the assessment, the impact of working with child abuse on employees, profiles of abuse that vary by gender, national conferences and training programs, and international collaboration.

The collaboration between research and practice against child abuse has been seminal and is still ongoing. We have learnt about new problem areas and have produced information that can be used to serve children, employees, and civil society in better ways.

This work is inspired by and aligns with initiatives abroad pertaining the construction of Children Centers, of assessments tools and child abuse trauma research.

Mutual respect, dedication, and patient persistence pave the way for significant results in a committed relationship.