title: The assessment of the readiness of five countries to implement child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale.
abstract: This study aimed to systematically assess the readiness of five countries - Brazil, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa - to implement evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale. To this end, it applied a recently developed method called Readiness Assessment for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment based on two parallel 100-item instruments. The first measures the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs concerning child maltreatment prevention of key informants; the second, completed by child maltreatment prevention experts using all available data in the country, produces a more objective assessment readiness. The instruments cover all of the main aspects of readiness including, for instance, availability of scientific data on the problem, legislation and policies, will to address the problem, and material resources. Key informant scores ranged from 31.2 (Brazil) to 45.8/100 (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and expert scores, from 35.2 (Brazil) to 56/100 (Malaysia). Major gaps identified in almost all countries included a lack of professionals with the skills, knowledge, and expertise to implement evidence-based child maltreatment programs and of institutions to train them; inadequate funding, infrastructure, and equipment; extreme rarity of outcome evaluations of prevention programs; and lack of national prevalence surveys of child maltreatment. In sum, the five countries are in a low to moderate state of readiness to implement evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale. Such an assessment of readiness - the first of its kind - allows gaps to be identified and then addressed to increase the likelihood of program success.
authors: Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, World Health Organization, Switzerland.
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: Mikton
authors: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors: Mick
authors: M
authors: Power
authors: University of St. Cyril and Methodius Clinical Center, Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
authors: Marija
authors: M
authors: Raleva
authors: Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors: Mokhantso
authors: M
authors: Makoae
authors: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for the Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Majid
authors: M
authors: Al Eissa
authors: Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Cheah
authors: University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Nancy
authors: N
authors: Cardia
authors: University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Claire
authors: C
authors: Choo
authors: National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Maha
authors: M
authors: Almuneef
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D057191:Capacity Building / Q000379:methods*; D002202:Capital Financing; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006284:Health Plan Implementation / Q000379:methods*; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011050:Policy Making; D018843:Republic of North Macedonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Capacity; Child maltreatment prevention; Developing countries; Implementation; Policy; Readiness