Promotion of good treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect in the primary care setting

Child abuse is any act, omission or neglect, not accidental, that deprives children from rights and well-being, it threatens or interferes with their physical, psychological or social development, it is committed by parents or caregivers. The incidence of abuse in the family environment has increased by 146.29% from 2001 to 2005.

Neglect is the most frequent child abuse; it represents 86.4% of all maltreatments, followed by emotional and physical abuse. All subtypes of abuse produce several emotional, social, criminal or sexual behaviour impairment, illegal drug consumption or suicide ideation. Primary Care has an outstanding role in child abuse prevention because it is the only community service where families have a regular and generalized access in the period of time when children are especially vulnerable. The interventions on risk families are the only ones that have proved some degree of effectiveness. The most consistent intervention in prevention, and with the best results, is the home visit to risk families with children whose ages range from the perinatal period until 2-3 years of life.