The Australian Government Department of Health commissioned Menzies to develop and implement a flexible, modular package of FASD Prevention and Health Promotion Resources (FPHPR) to reduce the impacts of FASD on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. In partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Telethon Kids Institute, Menzies used a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach to enable services to make the self-assessments needed in tailoring the resources for local circumstances, particularly community needs and local workforce capacity.
The project achieved the following outcomes:
- FASD prevention and health promotion resources are available for NDMBS services developing and implementing community-driven strategies and solutions
- Education materials targeting clinicians, families and communities on alcohol, smoking & other causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes are more widely available.
The primary benefit of the FPHPR package and training workshops was to enhance health professionals’ capacity to raise the issue of alcohol consumption with antenatal clients, and to provide resources and training to achieve this outcome. In addition, the NDMBS can use the data collection tools and nKPI indicator to monitor their progress in reducing rates of alcohol consumption in pregnancy in their clients and for continuous quality improvement within their service. Collecting data on alcohol use in pregnancy data will provide a more accurate presentation of this issue in Australia to better inform policy and practice at a national level.
Chief investigators:
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Professor Sven Silburn
Key staff:
- Nicole Hewlett
- Heather D’Antoine
- Dr Frances Cunningham
- A/Prof Marita Hefler
- Dr Christine Armit
- Hayley Williams
- Rahni Cassady
Project dates:
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February 2015 – June 2017