Pre-Print SERENA

This preprint introduces the SERENA project, a Horizon Europe-funded initiative involving 22 partners from 12 European countries. It outlines the study protocol for assessing and improving access to health and social care services for children rendered vulnerable by abuse. The article related to the SERENA protocol, which has been submitted to the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), and is currently under review.

The document details SERENA’s cross-sectoral and mixed-methods design, including large-scale analyses of national health and social care data, qualitative interviews with professionals and survivors, and an evaluation of the societal costs of child maltreatment.

It also presents the project’s objectives, governance structure, and ethical framework, and describes the project’s ambition to develop recommendations to strengthen early detection, intervention, and coordination across European systems.