Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2021 - 18

The BCMS Pat Sharma P r esident 's S chola rship
continued from page 17
METHODS
The research conducted within this study was a preliminary
meta-analysis using previously collected data. These data sources
included monthly records of child abuse reports made through
the Tower Health network which were reviewed by their Child
Abuse Committee, annual case totals reviewed by the Berks
County Detectives Office, and annual totals of clients served by
the Children's Alliance Center. It should be noted the majority
of data was standardized to adjust for a seven-month disparity
in 2021 data by calculating annual monthly averages. For child
fatality and near fatality cases in Berks County, data was obtained
from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.24
Berks County unemployment rates were collected from the PA
Department of Labor & Industry.25
Finally, daily reports of
COVID-19 cases in Berks County were extracted from the Covid
Act Now Coalition to create monthly COVID-19 case totals.26
Primary qualitative data was collected through the use of semistructured
interviews. Participants in these interviews included
the Lead District Nurse from the Tulpehocken School District,
the Director of Student Support Services from the Reading School
District, a Detective from the Berks County Detectives Office, an
Assistant District Attorney, the Director of the Children's Alliance
Center, the Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Tower Health
Reading Hospital, and the Director of Prevent Child Abuse PA,
who is also the Program Director at Suspected Child Abuse and
Neglect (SCAN). These school districts were selected to account
for differences due to virtual versus in-person learning. Interviews
consisted of several standard questions followed by open-ended
prompts to accommodate for unique industry-specific insights.
Surveys were also distributed to persons of interest who work with
child services, family resources, or pediatric healthcare. Thus, a
digital survey was distributed to advisor-selected recipients via email.
For the purposes of this study, drug-related child endangerment
and general safety concerns were included in the analysis, although
these actions are listed under General Protective Services (GPS)
instead of Child Protective Services (CPS) in Pennsylvania.
Additionally, non-medical neglect and medical neglect, and verbal,
mental, and emotional abuse, were consolidated into the singular
categories of neglect and mental abuse. Most importantly, the
data provided by the Tower Health Reading Hospital Child Abuse
Committee is based on reports of alleged child abuse and therefore
have not yet been either substantiated/found or unsubstantiated/
unfounded.
Figure 1. displays the total amount of child abuse reported each month
by Tower Health Reading Hospital employees.
RESULTS
Data Analysis
Monthly
Figure 2. compares the standardized annual monthly average totals of
child abuse reports obtained by Tower Health Reading Hospital, clients
(mainly sexual abuse victims) serviced by the Children's Alliance Center,
and child abuse cases investigated by Berks County Detectives. All 2021
data shown are monthly averages calculated using January to May 2021
monthly totals.
An analysis of the child abuse reports made at the Tower Health
Reading Hospital during 2019, 2020, and 2021 did not exhibit any
explicit fluctuations (Figure 1). Contrary to some national estimates,
Berks County medical reporting found only a few conservative
decreases in reports made in April, May and September of 2020
(Figure 1). A more captivating trend is an increase in reporting
which began during November of 2020 and continued into the
most recent report of May 2021 (Figure 1). The May 2021
continued on page 20
18 | w w w .berkscms .or g
http://www.berkscms.org
Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2021
