It takes a village: Influencing policy and practice to prevent alcohol use in pregnancy and promote better outcomes for individuals living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Amy Finlay-Jones; Elizabeth Elliott; Astrid Chapman; Jane Halliday; Heather Jones; Natalie Kippin; Narelle Mullan; Hayley Passmore; Tracy Reibel; Neil Reynolds; Martyn Symons; Tracey W Tsang; Rochelle Watkins; Carol Bower

doi:10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1703

It takes a village: Influencing policy and practice to prevent alcohol use in pregnancy and promote better outcomes for individuals living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Int J Popul Data Sci. 2022 Mar 2;6(1):1703. doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1703. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Amy Finlay-Jones^{1

2}, Elizabeth Elliott^{1

3

4}, Astrid Chapman¹, Jane Halliday^{1

5

6}, Heather Jones^{1

2}, Natalie Kippin^{1

2}, Narelle Mullan^{1

2}, Hayley Passmore^{1

2}, Tracy Reibel^{1

7}, Neil Reynolds¹, Martyn Symons^{1

2}, Tracey W Tsang^{1

3

4}, Rochelle Watkins^{1

2}, Carol Bower^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ FASD Research Australia Centre of Research Excellence, Australia.
² Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia, 6009.
³ The University of Sydney, Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Westmead, NSW, Australia, 2145.
⁴ Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Kids Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia, 2145.
⁵ Reproductive Epidemiology, Genetics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria, 3052, Australia.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
⁷ Ngangk Yira Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and Social Equity, Murdoch University, Western Australia, 6150, Australia.

Abstract

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by exposure to alcohol in utero. It has pervasive, lifelong impacts and is recognised as a major public health concern in many countries where alcohol is used. The FASD Research Australia Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council to generate and translate evidence to address prevention, diagnosis, and management of FASD in Australia. The current paper describes the approach to policy and practice impact taken by our CRE, including our stakeholder engagement processes and the key principles that underlie our approach. We provide examples of policy and practice influence in FASD prevention, diagnosis and management that have been achieved over the past five years and discuss challenges that are routinely faced in the translation of our work.

Keywords: alcohol; consumer involvement; fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; policy; research translation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alcohol Drinking / adverse effects
Australia / epidemiology
Ethanol
Female
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders* / diagnosis
Humans
Policy
Pregnancy

Substances

Ethanol

Grants and funding

The FASD Australia CRE is funded by NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence grant #1110341. EE was supported by a Practitioner Fellowship (#1021480) and a Medical Research Futures Fund Next Generation Fellowship (#1135959). CB was supported by NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship (#634341).