Safeguarding Adolescents for GP/Family Medicine professionals

This session aims to help you understand specific issues relating to child protection for adolescents and the wider context of safeguarding.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Explain the concept of safeguarding as it applies to adolescents
• List the effects of previous abuse on adolescent development
• Identify factors increasing the risk that an adolescent will be abused or abusive
• Recognise the different signs of abuse and how they might present in an adolescent
• Plan steps to take if you suspect an adolescent is being abused

Introduction

Adolescents need to feel safe at home, at school and in their neighbourhood. Being safe in his or her family, school and community decreases the likelihood that a young person will engage in risky health behaviours, including those that contribute to major public health challenges like substance misuse, teenage pregnancy and injury.

Broadly, safeguarding means protection from harm such as illness, abuse or injury. Safeguarding is also the term used to describe the process of identifying children and young people who have suffered or who are likely to suffer significant harm from abuse or neglect and taking the appropriate action to keep them safe.