Thread by @CroakeyNews

Gary Denham is a radiographer at @HNEHealth, with a number of presentations for #ASMIRT2023, incl (related to Edel Doyle previously): Beyond the skeletal survey: how modern neuroimaging is revealing the effects of childhood maltreatment

Denham says it's well established that childhood maltreatment/abuse is detrimental to mental health & a major risk factor for most psychiatric disorders. Can also lead to a range of behavioural problems & alter the structure/function of the developing brain #ASMIRT2023

Child maltreatment/abuse is also associated with impairments to IQ, academic achievement, working memory, emotional regulation and inhibitory control - Denham #ASMIRT2023

Modern neuroimaging techniques, such as functional MRI, positron emission tomography and diffusion tensor imaging have the ability to visualise the structural changes that occur in the brain due to
child maltreatment - Denham #ASMIRT2023

Denham gives as eg's: the ability of functional MRI to visualise altered facial perception of adults in people with a history of childhood emotional maltreatment and imaging to detect abnormalities of white matter microstructure in the brains of maltreated children #ASMIRT2023

Denham's work is reviewing the chronic stress response to child abuse & subsequent effects on the developing brain; also exploring current neuroimaging techniques for child abuse & how imaging is changing the way child abuse & resultant behaviours is understood #ASMIRT2023

Denham's work, with Sharon Denham, is also focused on providing patient-centred care as medical radiation practitioners to children in out of home care - a vulnerable and at risk cohort #ASMIRT2023

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

They write that trauma-informed care is a method of service delivery that seeks to actively minimise re-traumatisation, and where creating a safe space is an essential element #ASMIRT2023

Gary and Sharon Denham cite work from @EmmaHydeTeach that the perception of patient centred care differs between those that deliver diagnostic imaging services and the patients who receive it. Focus on tech aspects vs communication/empathy skills #ASMIRT2023

"Medical radiation practitioners need to ensure when engaging with children in out of home care they are providing the patient centred care in a way that helps minimise further trauma," they write. #ASMIRT2023

Dos and don'ts for healthcare workers working with children and young people with complex trauma, via their work #ASMIRT2023

Privacy a critical issue for children in out of home care, around the fact of them being in foster care, carers' personal details, potentially (restricted) access for birth parents. Especially teenagers may feel embarrassment #ASMIRT2023

As always this terrible sting for kids in out of home care:

"It is an unfortunate reality that some children in OOHC are further maltreated or abused & Medical Radiation Practitioners have obligations to report their suspicions of abuse." - Denham/Denham #ASMIRT2023