Kroschke Children’s Foundation
Cologne (ots)
The “Kroschke Research Prize for Child Protection in Medicine” endowed with 7,500 euros from the German Society for Child Protection in Medicine (DGKiM) was awarded on May 13, 2023 to the pediatrician and child protection physician Dr. medical Oliver Berthold from Berlin. He was honored for his dissertation “Perception and prevention of abuse-related head trauma”. The expert jury was convinced by the high practical relevance of the work, which allows the development of target group-specific primary prevention programs to avoid abuse-related head trauma and thus improve the protective effect of the prevention programs. The prize was awarded for the first time and was donated by the Kroschke Children’s Foundation for the years 2023 to 2025.
The essence of the research work is the development of a model, tailor-made primary prevention program for precisely defined target groups to avoid abuse-related head injuries, in particular shaking trauma in infants. The basis was a systematic literature search on the effectiveness of existing primary prevention programs with regard to reducing the incidence. In his own study, Berthold examined the parameters of successful programs using a sample representative of the German population. Berthold examined the knowledge about shaking trauma, the core statements of primary prevention and the attitude towards helpful and harmful methods of infant care. The aim of the work was to identify specific risk groups that can benefit from tailor-made prevention programs. On the basis of the collected data, Berthold developed a model program that takes into account the knowledge he gained about the target groups and can thus contribute to the prevention of shaking trauma.
“There are already a number of different approaches. But we wanted to find ways of reaching the target group of young men in particular and raising awareness of the topic. Because in around 60 percent of cases, the shaking trauma in infants is caused by men. We can achieve that with our education on the maternity ward much less frequently than the mothers”, explains the experienced doctor. Another risk factor: a young age. “That’s why we propose two complementary measures: on the one hand, targeting younger men in the final years of school; on the other hand, cooperation with successful influencers to pick up young people where they are: on social networks.”
The high practical relevance of the work and the technical relevance were the deciding factors for the selection by the jury. dr medical Bernd Herrmann, 1st chairman of the DGKiM and head of the child protection outpatient clinic at Kassel Clinic, appreciates the quality of the excellent dissertation: “With this year’s award winner, Dr. Oliver Berthold, we are particularly honoring an innovative and preventive approach that could help prevent serious brain abuse in the future. We are very grateful that the Kroschke Foundation has enabled us to offer an attractive research award. Especially The high number and quality of the submitted works is pleasing.”
The jury for the Kroschke Research Prize for Child Protection in Medicine is formed by Dr. Bernd Herrmann, pediatrician Dr. medical Tanja Brüning, 2nd chairwoman of the DGKiM with management of the DGKiM working group on cooperative studies and medical management of the child protection outpatient clinic at the Vestische Children and Youth Clinic in Datteln, Dr. medical Nadine Wilke-Schalhorst, forensic doctor at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Lübeck, advisory board member of the DGKiM and member of the working group for clinical forensic medicine in the German Society for Forensic Medicine (DGRM), Dr. med Thorsten Wygold, Medical Director of the Children’s and Youth Clinic in Heide/Holstein and Advisory Board member of the Kroschke Children’s Foundation and Nadine Weber-Kroschke, Board Member of the Kroschke Children’s Foundation.
“Child protection has been a central concern of our foundation’s work for almost 20 years. Prevention and early help are particularly important to us in order to give children the best possible start in life. With the research prize, we want to help this complex topic to gain more attention. “Nadine Weber-Kroschke explains the commitment of the children’s foundation. “At the same time, we want to strengthen the scientific basis to better protect children.”
Physicians from all medical disciplines and other professional groups in the healthcare system can be confronted with violence and neglect of children and young people in many different ways. This applies to different medical professional groups, different areas of focus (clinic, practice, institutes, public health service), various aspects of child protection (diagnostics, intervention, prevention, early help), scientific research, teaching and further education, professional societies and organizations as well as the interface to the non-medical, multi-professional child protection. The generic term medical child protection or child protection in medicine has now been established for all these areas. This is therefore not to be assigned to a single professional group and has established itself in the last decade as a new, complex, challenging and interdisciplinary field that goes beyond pediatrics. Structural changes in teaching, further education, research and also in the supply mandate for the health care system should help to identify and prevent the endangerment of children and young people at an early stage (Schwier, Manjgo, Kieslich. New developments in medical child protection. Monthly Schr. Kinderheilkd. 2019) .
The German Society for Child Protection in Medicine has the protection of children and young people as a fundamental goal. The emergence of hazards for children is a combination of various factors. Prevention and detection of child welfare hazards require care by multi-professional teams and cross-system cooperation. Advancing the care of children and young people on an evidence-based basis in questions of child protection in the health care system is the main goal of the research award.
The Kroschke Children’s Foundation has been committed to the health of children and young people for 30 years. Since 2006, substantial funds have been made available for preventive child protection. Through the cooperation with the DGKiM, the Kroschke Children’s Foundation wants to contribute to strengthening the scientific basis of child protection work.
Press contact:
Press contact DGKiM eV: Frauke Schwier, managing director
E-Mail: [email protected], Tel: 0221-986 53239
Press contact Kroschke Children’s Foundation: Anja Wenk, Managing Director
E-Mail: [email protected], Tel.: 04102-804 101
Original content from: Kroschke Children’s Foundation, transmitted by news aktuell