OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS’ PERCEPTION ON CHILD ABUSE IN MALAYSIA

Child abuse is a public matter to which the Malaysian society is not well known about the issues and consequences resulting implications to the human developmental. Though many abused children were presented with physical injuries which intervened in the emergency departments, occupational therapy also play roles in working with parents about parenting techniques and intervening childhood development. Due to this essential role to be played for the abused population, this study is conducted to examine occupational therapist perception on child abuse in Malaysia and their attitudes in reporting child abuse cases. This crosssectional study enrolled 101 Malaysian occupational therapists in an anonymous online survey. Data collection utilized a self-report questionnaire, Professional Perceptions of Child Abuse and Neglect Survey. Approximately 60% of Malaysian occupational therapists had perceived actions and behaviours exhibited from a physical harm as an abuse due to an obvious cause of injury such as physical impact to the child. However,around 40% of Malaysian occupational therapists who participated in this study had difficulty in categorising their attitudes towards the types of child abuse especially on emotional abuse and neglect.In general, most of the Malaysian occupational therapists in this study agreed on reporting cases of child abuse that basically focused more on physical and sexual abuse towards the child. It is noted that the emotional and neglect cases of abuses received lesser attention than the physical and sexual abuse. In conclusion, this study suggested that occupational therapists in Malaysia need to address the issues of child abuse and need to facilitate more effective interventions against all types of abuses.