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Intervention Barriers

Health Professionals Addressing Alcohol Use with Pregnant Women in Western Australia: Barriers and Strategies for Communication

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Pages 1474-1490 | Published online: 30 Jun 2010
 

Abstract

Health professionals have an important role to play in preventing prenatal alcohol exposure. In 2006 qualitative data were collected from 53 health professionals working in primary care in metropolitan and regional Western Australia. Thematic analysis was used to elucidate barriers in addressing prenatal alcohol use and the strategies used to overcome them. Health professionals identified strategies for obtaining alcohol use information from pregnant women but they are not recognizing moderate alcohol intake in pregnant women. Study limitations are noted and the implications of the results are discussed. This research was funded by the Health Promotion Foundation of Western Australia.

RÉSUMÉ

Le corps médical abordant le sujet de la consomation d’alcool avec les femmes enceintes en autralie occidentale: obstacles et strategies de communication

Le corps médical joue un rôle important pour la prévention de l’exposition prénatale à l’alcool. En 2006, des données qualitatives ont été receuillies auprès de 53 responsables des soins primaires dans un nombre de centres urbains et régionaux de l’australie occidentale. Des analyses de thèmes ont été utilisées en vue de dévoiler les obstacles qui se présentent au moment d’addresser le problème de la consomation d’alcool pendant la grossesse et les stratégies à mettre en place pour les surmonter. Ces mêmes responsables ont identifié les stratégies nécéssaires à obtenir des femmes enceintes certains renseignements concernant leur consomation d’alcool mais n’ont pu dévoiler la consommation d’alcool modérée de ces femmes. Les limitations de cette recherche sont notées et les implications de ces résultats sont discutées. Cette recherche à été financée par la “fondation pour la promotion de la santé de l’australie occidentale” ou “Health Promotion Foundation of Western Australia.

RESUMEN

Profesionales de la salud tratan el uso del alcohol en embarazadas de Australia Occidental: obstáculos y estrategias para la comunicación

Los profesionales de la salud tienen una importante función en la prevención del contacto prenatal con el alcohol. En 2006 se recolectaron datos cualitativos de 53 profesionales de la salud que trabajaban en la atención primaria en Australia Occidental, en áreas metropolitanas y regionales. Se utilizó un análisis temático para elucidar obstáculos al tratar el uso prenatal del alcohol y las estrategias para superarlo. Los profesionales de la salud identificaron estrategias para obtener información sobre el uso del alcohol en embarazadas, pero no reconocen un uso moderado del alcohol en las embarazadas. Se observan las limitaciones del estudio y se elabora sobre los resultados. Esta investigación fue financiada por la Fundación para el Fomento de la Salud de Australia Occidental (Health Promotion Foundation of Western Australia).

THE AUTHORS

Kathryn France is a graduate of the University of Western Australia and Curtin University of Technology. She has previously worked as a part of the Alcohol and Pregnancy Research Group at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, and is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholar with the Centre for Applied Social Marketing Research, Edith Cowan University. Her research interests include the promotion of healthy pregnancies and using formative research to develop persuasive health promotion and health communication.

Professor Nadine Henley is a graduate of the University of Wales and the University of Saskatchewan. She has a Ph.D. in Social Marketing from the University of Western Australia. She is Professor of Social Marketing and Director of the Centre for Applied Social Marketing Research at Edith Cowan University and Honorary Research Fellow in the Division of Population Sciences at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. Nadine has an adjunct appointment as a Professor in the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control at Curtin University. She is coauthor of Social Marketing: Principles and practice (2003). Her research focuses on health issues in social marketing, specifically investigating what persuades people to adopt healthy behaviors.

Ms Jan Payne has a Master of Science degree (Public Health) and qualifications in Nursing, Midwifery, Child Health and Health Administration. She is a Senior Research Officer and Project Manger at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Western Australia. Her research focuses on the prevention of prenatal exposure to alcohol and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Ms Heather D’Antoine trained as a registered nurse and a midwife and has extensive experience in health services. She completed a Bachelor of Applied Science and Masters in Health Economics (aboriginal health) at Curtin University of Technology. Heather is currently employed as a senior research officer at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Western Australia. Her research focus is on prevention in aboriginal child health.

Professor Anne Bartu is a graduate of the Anthropology School of the University of Western Australia, has a Ph.D. from Curtin University of Technology, a Masters Degree of Public Health, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She is the Principal Research Officer of the Drug and Alcohol Office and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Women and Infants Research Foundation. Anne is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University of Technology. Her research interests focus on drugs in pregnancy and transmission of drugs in breast milk.

Colleen O’Leary obtained her B.Sc. from the University of Western Australia majoring in biochemistry and physiology and undertook a Masters of Public Health. She worked for many years in alcohol policy and later in child health policy. She is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. with University of Western Australia focusing on the effect of dose, pattern, and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure on fetal and child outcomes and works at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research as a research associate. Colleen is a member of the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) Model of Care Working Group established by the Western Australian Department of Health.

Professor Elizabeth Elliott is Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health trained at the University of Sydney where she qualified (M.B.B.S.) and has subsequently completed an M.D. and an M.Phil. (Public Health). She is also Consultant Paediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (UK) and the Royal College of Physicians (UK). She holds a Practitioner Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Her research focused on rare diseases and she is involved in clinical care, research, policy development, and teaching in relation to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and alcohol use in pregnancy.

Carol Bower, Ph.D., is a graduate of the Medical School at University of Western Australia, has a Ph.D. from UWA, M.Sc. in epidemiology from University of London, and is a Fellow of the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. She is Medical Specialist for the Western Australian Birth Defects Registry and Senior Principal Research Fellow in the Division of Population Sciences at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. Carol has an adjunct appointment as a Clinical Professor in the Centre for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on the epidemiology of birth defects and their prevention.

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