Valley doctors urging conversations to continue on child abuse

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Central Valley spent April raising awareness about child abuse for Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Now that it's over, one doctor says the conversation still needs to continue.

"If we show support, that can help prevent later on a lot of medical, emotional and psychological issues later on," says Dr. Garine Lapejian with Kaiser Permanente.

Dr. Lapejian says there are different forms of child abuse - physical, sexual and emotional.

"Some parents can be so judgmental and make kids feel like they don't belong, and they are worthless," she said. "Those are the hard ones because it's not obvious."

Whereas physical abuse is much more obvious, she encourages the community to know the TEN4 rule.

It's an acronym to identify if a bruise is from abuse and not an accidental injury.

For example, children shouldn't have bruises on their torso, ears or neck.

The four represents the age of four months.

"Young kids, like especially under the age of four months, they don't bruise," Dr. Lapejian said. "There is no reason for them to bruise."

Dr. Lapejian also discourages using spanking as punishment.

"Ignore that behavior that you're trying to avoid, not to pay too much attention and redirect and use positive reinforcement," she said.

Kaiser Permanente has a Child Abuse Services and Prevention Program to educate clinicians on how to respond to and follow up on suspected abuse cases.

Since its 2016 implementation, there's been an increase in awareness and response to suspected child abuse cases.

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