Child maltreatment prevention readiness in Bahrain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Child maltreatment (CM) is a major public health problem worldwide. Despite the well-documented cases of all forms of CM and the improvement of the national response to CM in Bahrain, efforts on the prevention of CM are still limited. The objective of this study was to assess the readiness to implement a national evidence-based CM prevention (CMP) program in Bahrain. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted with 45 key informants who had influence and decision-making power over CMP. RESULTS: The overall score indicated low to moderate readiness. The key informants scored the highest on legislation, mandates, and policies (7.9), which was followed by the knowledge of CM prevention (7.2), institutional resources and links (5.2), and informal social resources (noninstitutional) (5.2). However, the lowest scores were the human and technical resources (1.2), attitudes toward CM prevention (3.3), will to address the problem, and material resources (3.8), current programs implementation and evaluation, and scientific data on CM prevention (4.5). CONCLUSION: This research has identified strengths and gaps in the country that needs to be addressed to develop programs that are responsive to the needs of the community. The development of a comprehensive well-resourced CMP program requires the collaborative efforts of legislators, political leaders, and professionals.