Answering a Call to Action: Reducing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Using a Healthcare Champion Model
Year: 2024
Type: editorial
Abstract: Prenatal alcohol exposure and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) remain critical public health issues. Alcohol use in pregnancy is a leading preventable cause of birth defects, developmental disabilities, and learning disabilities. Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) is effective at reducing excessive alcohol use. However, this clinical preventive service remains critically underutilized in primary care. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for the creation of FASD Champion programs to promote clinician education about FASDs. Six professional health organizations and groups providing reproductive and child health services set out to create FASD Champion programs. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists FASDs Prevention Program was created to focus on reducing alcohol-exposed pregnancies. The American Academy of Pediatrics' Champion program maintains the goal of improving health outcomes for children with FASDs by improving pediatricians' diagnostic capacity. The American Academy of Family Physicians has prioritized training family physician champions to improve the delivery of alcohol SBI among adult patients. The University of Alaska Anchorage has partnered with the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, and the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses to assure advanced practice registered nurses and midwives have the knowledge and skills to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies and FASDs. The American Association of Medical Assistants has prioritized expanding the knowledge and skills of medical assistants related to promoting alcohol-free pregnancies. Finally, the Champions program at the University of Texas at Austin was established to train health social workers in alcohol SBI. Through the advocacy, education, and mission of these 6 health sectors in collaboration with national organizations and educational institutions, the evidence-based approach of alcohol SBI is being disseminated throughout the United States to reduce the harmful effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.
Institutions: University of Michigan, Boston University, Boston Medical Center, MetroHealth, Case Western Reserve University, American College of Nurse-Midwives, The University of Texas at Austin, American Academy of Pediatrics, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Nevada, Reno, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, University of Central Florida
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2055665937, G2234564230, G2305949991, G8127967525, ACOG NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS TO ADDRESS PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES USE AND FASD - THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS (ACOG) SERVES AS THE NATION’S LEADING GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS PROVIDING HEALTH CARE FOR WOMEN. A NONPROFIT MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION; THAT FOCUSES ON WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE ADVOCACY, CLINICAL PRACTICE STANDARDS, AND EDUCATION. THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY ACOG REACH BEYOND OUR 60,000 MEMBERS TO ADDRESS THE PATIENT POPULATION SERVED BY OUR PRACTITIONERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THE OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS PREVENTION PROGRAM IS TO EDUCATE AND SUPPORT CLINICIANS IN REDUCING PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCE USE EXPOSURE AMONG THEIR PATIENTS THROUGH IMPLEMENTING SCREENING AND BRIEF INTERVENTION AND REFERRAL TO TREATMENT. THE OB-GYN MEMBERS OF THE ACOG FASD CHAMPION WORKGROUP WILL SERVE AS AMBASSADORS AND ASSIST IN THE PROGRAM’S EFFORTS BY ENGAGING AND EDUCATING THEIR PEERS REGARDING THE PREVALENCE OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE USE EXPOSURE, THE EFFECTS SUCH AS FASDS, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALCOHOL SBIRT. THROUGH INNOVATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH THE CHAMPIONS AND OUR NATIONAL PARTNERS, WE WILL EXPAND, LEVERAGE AND DEVELOP RESOURCES; AND NEEDED SUPPORTS TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND ACCESS TO CARE TO THOSE PEOPLE AT RISK OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE AND OTHER SUBSTANCE USE. THESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ACOG’S PROGRAMMING AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO LEVERAGE THEM TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROPOSAL. ACOG RECOGNIZES THAT THE HARMS ATTRIBUTABLE TO FASD ARE COMPLEX AND CONVINCED THAT PROMOTING AWARENESS IN TANDEM WITH EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES CAN RESULT IN SUSTAINED CHANGE. SHARING EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION INCREASES KNOWLEDGE AND IMPACTS INTERVENTIONS, THUS CHANGING HOW PROVIDERS CARE FOR THEIR PATIENTS. ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE NECESSARY TOOLS ARE NOW IN PLACE TO SUPPORT PROVIDERS IN SCREENING, BRIEF INTERVENTION, AND REFERRAL TO TREATMENT (SBIRT), THE UNIVERSAL APPLICATION OF THIS TECHNIQUE HAS YET TO BE BROADLY IMPLEMENTED BY OB-GYNS. THE OB-GYN HAS A UNIQUE ROLE IN SCREENING AND INTERVENTION WITH PATIENTS OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE; WOMEN OFTEN UTILIZE THEIR OB-GYN AS THEIR PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN INCLUDING BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL DISCUSSION WITHIN ROUTINE CARE. THE ANNUAL WELL-WOMAN VISIT PROVIDES A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR OB-GYNS TO EVALUATE FOR PRENATAL ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCE USE EXPOSURE AND OFFER RESOURCES TO PARENTS AND FAMILIES AFFECTED BY FASDS. IN WORKING TOWARD THAT MISSION, THE ACOG PROGRAM WILL FOCUS ON ACHIEVING THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES: - DEMONSTRATED COLLABORATION BETWEEN CLINICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH PARTNERS - INCREASED USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED INFORMATION AND RESOURCES - INCREASED IDENTIFICATION OF MEMBERS’ KNOWLEDGE, CURRENT PRACTICES, AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS - IMPROVED CAPACITY OF STATE AND LOCAL NETWORKS TO REACH AFFECTED POPULATIONS WITH RELEVANT, EVIDENCE-BASED MESSAGING AND SERVICES - INCREASED KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO THE RISKS OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCE USE - INCREASED INTEGRATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGIES INTO CLINICAL PRACTICE AND NON-CLINICAL SETTINGS - INCREASED INCORPORATION OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE USE CONTENT RELATED TO CLINICAL RECOMMENDATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES INTO ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES, STUDENT CURRICULA, OR CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS - INCREASED LINKAGE OF PEOPLE AT RISK OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCE USE AS WELL AS FAMILIES LIVING WITH FASDS TO LOCAL SERVICES, TREATMENT, SUPPORT GROUPS, PREVENTION PROGRAMS, AND STATEWIDE SERVICES, G8799542385, FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS (FASDS) PREVENTION PROGRAM
OpenAlex ID: W4401834827