Best practice vs. reality: An exploratory study of communication dynamics during forensic dental and medical examinations in child abuse investigations

Forensic health examinations are a routine part of child abuse investigations, yet healthcare professionals may lack the skills required to communicate effectively with victims. Best practice interviewing techniques have been adopted in various professions, yet they have not been widely implemented among healthcare professionals. Little is known about the communication dynamics during forensic health examinations in relation to best practice interviewing principles. Participants included nine youths (aged 13–16) and eight healthcare professionals involved in forensic dental and medical examinations carried out as part of child abuse investigations. Using a hybrid content analysis approach supplemented by inductive coding, healthcare professionals’ utterances were coded to identify the use of open-ended or closed-ended statements. Children’s responses were categorised as descriptive, “don’t know,” or yes/no. The length of each utterance or response was measured by word count. Preliminary revealed that healthcare professionals primarily used option-posing utterances, while invitations were used in only 0.6% of cases. Conversations also lacked a clear structure, with key components such as introductory statements and ground rules inconsistently applied. This study highlights the need to establish best practice interviewing techniques tailored for healthcare settings. Given their crucial role in child abuse investigations, healthcare professionals should receive training in evidence-based communication strategies. Implementing structured interviewing protocols in medical and dental contexts could improve information gathering while ensuring child-centred, ethical, and supportive interactions.