Download a PDF poster to print and post in your unit, department, or office! (Opens in new tab)Description
Duration:
120 minutes including a Q&A
Includes:
• A certificate of completion
• The on-demand recording to watch at your convenience, for at least one year
• A handout in PDF format for viewing or self-printing
Objectives:
To help participants to:
• Understand the complex terminology applied in cases of medical child abuse (MCA), and the paucity of laws and clinical guidelines related to the management of these cases.
• Develop an understanding of what MCA cases look like clinically, and to identify and understand the behaviour indicators of MCA in clinical and non-clinical settings.
• Participants understand the multiple pathways that may lead to medical child abuse.
• Introduce participants to a template for understanding the roles played by various professionals, from the development of suspicions through the adjudication of legal matters, as these professionals work to protect victims of MCA.
• Help clinician participants understand simple steps that can be taken to promote prevention and early detection of medical child abuse.
Description:
Medical Child Abuse goes by many clinical names but is formerly best known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. In the classic form, Medical Child Abuse involves a parent or other caregiver who inflicts injury or induces illness in a child, then deceives the treating physician and health care staff with fictitious or exaggerated information, and perpetrates the scenario for months or years. This can cause overly aggressive medical evaluations and interventions. An outcome is that the treating physician and healthcare staff have played an unintended role. Failure to recognize Medical Child Abuse is common because the condition is not recognized or is missed, and thus not included in the differential diagnosis of challenging clinical problems. Once diagnosed, the consequences can be enormous, affecting not only the child, but also the various health care, child welfare, human resource staff and legal community. Join Dr. James Hamilton, PhD, an expert in Medical Child Abuse for this important webinar
Who Should Attend?:
• Pediatricians, Pediatric Nurses, Pediatric Residents, Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• Allied Pediatric Staff: Social workers, Child Life Specialists, Pediatric Rehabilitation Staff
• Primary Care, Family Health Care Teams, Home & Community Health Nurses
• Criminal Lawyers, Prosecutors, Child Welfare Organization Professionals, Human Resources Staff
• Staff in Pediatric and Adult Mental Health Settings; Psychologists, Counsellors
James Hamilton PhD
Dr. James C. Hamilton is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Alabama, and a licensed clinical psychologist in the State of Alabama. He has participated as a forensic evaluator in over 30 cases of alleged medical child abuse, and is co-chair of the Munchausen by Proxy Committee of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). He has published numerous articles and chapters on the topic of excessive and factitious illness behaviour.
