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Awareness weeks guide

International FASD awareness day

International FASD Awareness Day

9 September 2024

 

9:09am on the 9th day of the 9th month is observed every year in recognition of the importance of being alcohol free for the nine months of a pregnancy. NO FASD Australia

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a diagnostic term used to describe impacts on the brain and body of individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol. FASD is a lifelong disability. Individuals with FASD will experience some degree of challenges in their daily living, and need support with motor skills, physical health, learning, memory, attention, communication, emotional regulation, and social skills to reach their full potential. Each individual with FASD is unique and has areas of both strengths and challenges. NO FASD Australia

UpToDate

Guidelines

Online resources and reports

Articles

Assessment and diagnosis

Prevention

Research

E-books

E-journals

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Articles

Assessment and diagnosis

Identifying and responding to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in child and family health: Lessons from an exploratory mixed methods study
Health workers in this study requested high-quality training and the development of FASD practice guidelines to improve role clarity and clinical impact when working with FASD populations. Drug and alcohol review 13 August 2024

Australian psychologists' knowledge, confidence, and practices in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder diagnostic assessment
Recognition of FASD is growing in Australia, however, further work is required to improve clinicians' understanding of and confidence in completing FASD assessments. Most participants indicated a preference for online training to learn more about FASD assessment. Alcohol clinical and experimental research 5 February 2024

Influence of childhood trauma and traumatic stress on a woman's risk of having a child with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
No direct influence of maternal childhood trauma on FASD diagnosis could be demonstrated. However, maternal trauma may indirectly contribute to the risk of having a child diagnosed with FASD. Alcohol: clinical and experimental research 3 May 2024

Machine learning approaches to the identification of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure: A narrative review
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) affect at least 0.8% of the population globally. The diagnosis of FASD is uniquely complex, with a heterogeneous physical and neurobehavioral presentation that requires multidisciplinary expertise for diagnosis. Many researchers have begun to incorporate machine learning approaches into FASD research to identify children who are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, including those with FASD. This narrative review highlights these efforts. Alcohol: clinical and experimental research 1 February 2024

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Prevention

Strong Born—A first of its kind National FASD Prevention Campaign in Australia led by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) in Collaboration with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs)
The Strong Born Campaign (2022–2025) was launched by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) in 2023. Strong Born is the first of its kind national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health promotion campaign to address Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) within Australia. Strong Born was developed to address a longstanding, significant gap in health promotion and sector knowledge on FASD, a lifelong disability that can result from alcohol use during pregnancy. Utilizing a strengths-based and culturally sound approach, NACCHO worked closely with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) to develop the campaign through co-design, as described in this paper. Since its inception, the ACCHOs have continually invested in driving change towards improvements in Aboriginal health determinants and health promotion. The Strong Born Campaign developed culturally safe health promotion tool kits designed for the community and health sector staff and also offered communities the opportunity to apply for FASD Communications and Engagement Grants to engage in local campaign promotion. The tool kits have been disseminated to 92 ACCHOs across Australia. This paper describes the development of the Strong Born Campaign and activities following its launch in February 2023 from an Indigenous context within Australia, as described by NACCHO. International journal of environmental research and public health 11 January 2024

Prevention of alcohol exposed pregnancies in Europe: the FAR SEAS guidelines
The FAR SEAS guidelines are a tool to support policy-makers and service managers in implementing effective programmes to reduce prenatal alcohol exposure among general and at-risk population groups. FASD prevention has to involve comprehensive and multi-level evidence-based policies and practice, with services and activities tailored to the needs of women at differing levels of risk, and with due attention to reducing stigma. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 6 April 2024

Scoping review on the role of the family doctor in the prevention and care of patients with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder
The interventions of GPs in the management of patients with FASD are comprehensive: prevention, identification, diagnosis, follow-up, education, and the role of coordinator for patients, their families, and pregnant women and their partners. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 22 February 2024

Obstacles and facilitators to preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: a qualitative study with general practitioners
General practitioners should be open and non-judgmental in their interactions with women and couples, with a focus on early detection and short-term intervention. General practitioners should be better educated about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and have a clearer understanding of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders care pathway. Frontiers in medicine 29 February 2024

Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: Distal variables
Differences in distal FASD risks were identified. Complex models to quantify risk for FASD hold promise for guiding prevention/intervention. Alcohol clinical and experimental research 17 December 2023

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Research

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder resources for health professionals: a scoping review
High-quality resources are available to support health professionals providing referrals and support to individuals with FASD, including language guides. Resources should be codesigned with people living with FASD to capture and integrate their knowledge and preferences. BMJ open 24 July 2024

Evaluation of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Hub Australia website
Users found the FASD Hub accessible, authoritative and useful and suggested improvements. Drug and alcohol review 27 May 2024

The burden of prenatal and early life maternal substance use among children at risk of maltreatment: A systematic review
Key Points

  • This systematic review found 35 studies that used widely varying measures of maternal substance use and data sources to define child maltreatment populations.
  • The prevalence of maternal substance use during pregnancy and early life ranged from 2% to 41% among maltreated/at risk children.
  • Higher prevalence estimates (10–41%) came from studies using mother and child health data sources to ascertain prenatal maternal substance use among whole-of-population samples of children with child protection contact.
  • The highest prevalence of maternal substance use was among children with child protection contact by 28 days of age (41%) and more serious child protection contacts such as out-of-home care placements by age 7 days to 1 year (10–37%).
  • Lower prevalence estimates (2–4%) came from studies using more specific substance use measures (e.g., neonatal abstinence syndrome) ascertained only from child hospital data, among small, narrowly-defined sub-populations, such as children hospitalised with maltreatment diagnoses.
  • Integration of health and child protection data sources during pregnancy and early life provides the opportunity to generate local maternal substance use prevalence estimates to inform prevention responses for mothers, children and families, including children at risk of maltreatment.

Drug and alcohol review 28 March 2024

Carer-reported sleep disturbance and carer- and teacher-rated executive functioning in children with prenatal alcohol exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have high rates of sleep disturbance and marked difficulties with executive functioning (EF). Sleep disturbance has been associated with poorer EF across development in typically developing children. The contribution of insomnia symptoms and nightmares to EF difficulties in children with PAE and FASD is unclear. The current study examined whether caregiver-reported insomnia symptoms and nightmares predicted difficulties with EF in children with PAE who were assessed at FASD diagnostic clinics. Child neuropsychology 12 April 2024

An Australian online training and support program for caregivers of children and youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Families linking with families
Specialist FASD caregiver education and support programs are beneficial for caregivers who care for children and youth with FASD. Further research through a randomised control trial could establish the efficacy of the program. Journal of intellectual & developmental disability 21 November 2023

‘No one believed us: no one came to help’: caregivers' experiences of violence and abuse involving children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Key points

  • Violence and abuse from children and adolescents are significant and frequent issues for caregivers of children who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The abuse and violence impact caregivers' relationships, health, and finances.
  • Caregivers are resilient and have developed a range of strategies to de-escalate and survive the violence and abuse from their children.
  • Caregivers note the lack of understanding from caring professionals and want to see changes where the violence and abuse are acknowledged, where training is provided, and where FASD services are funded.
  • Practitioners can demonstrate empathy and support in many forms notably in demonstrating belief and by making efforts to secure more-than-superficial help for families.

Australian and New Zealand journal of family therapy 17 February 2024

Parenting by individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and neurobehavioral outcomes in their offspring
Parents with FASD display notable strengths including a predominantly authoritative parenting style. However, parents with FASD underrecognize child trauma and underutilize developmental services compared to socioeconomically matched controls, despite similar neurocognitive impairments. Impairments in adaptive functioning in parents with FASD may translate into difficulties with child–parent communication and limit both insight into neurobehavioral problems and advocacy skills. There is a need to identify and support parents with FASD to optimize their parenting abilities in the context of their individual strengths and difficulties. Alcohol: clinical and experimental research 27 December 2023

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E-books

This is just a sample of the e-books the library subscribes to – you will need your library login

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E-Journals

A sample of the journals the library subscribes to – you will need your library login

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