Analysis and Critique of ‘No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice’ Campaign
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Analysis and Critique of ‘No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice’ Campaign
Introduction
This report is solely dedicated to analyze and critique a health promotion program being implemented in Australia. It is structured to showcase the result from factual and concrete evidences from scholarly written materials and other trusted sources. A better understanding of the program will help in the scrutinizing the program. Therefore, an analysis of the program is important before even the critique. The structure is designed to ensure a number of discussions are covered by the report. First, an in-depth demonstration of great understanding of the principle and complexities of the promotion program. It shows if the primary health care approach and its principles are embraced. Secondly, this report will provide a wide knowledge on the impact of participation of the community, the engagement of professionals and the government policy; both Australian and international on the campaign. The potential responsibility of the midwife, other health professionals and partnerships with women in the implementation of the program is also discussed. All these findings will fall either the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the program thereby a critique based on SWOT analysis. For instance, in the quest of analyzing if the information by the program is evidence based. The program to be discussed is about alcohol and pregnancy. It was a campaign of ‘No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice’ that was launched to ensure prevention of the effects of alcohol on the health of the pregnancy and that of the baby.
Analysis of the Program
The ‘No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice’ campaign was started in the year 2012. It was the pioneer campaign in the West Australia to address drinking of alcohol among pregnant mothers. Its key message is that the safest way for women planning on getting and those who are pregnant is that of abstinence from alcohol (“alcoholthinkagain”, 2012). The information passed by the campaign was from the Healthway and National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC) results of a research done by Edith Cowan University among women in pregnancy and those in the age of bearing children (“alcoholthinkagain”, 2012). It was initiated by both the Injury Control Council of WA (ICCWA) and the Drug and Alcohol Office (DAO). Primarily, it targeted the women of 25 to 39 years. More so, it targeted the general public of 25 to 54 years as the secondary target.
The program was aimed on creating and enforcing the beliefs that follows: abstinence from alcohol is the best option in the process of pregnancy (“alcoholthinkagain”, 2012). Secondly, it was aimed to dispute the belief that shows that a few drinks once in a while are harmless. Also that once one is pregnant, reducing of their alcohol intake is important though abstinence from it should be the goal. The other belief that the campaign was aiming to enforce was that the potential danger to the fetus rises with the quantity and number of times alcohol is consumed. This means there are risks even when the mother is not feeling drunk. Consuming of alcohol relates to effects that do not last and those that could last and this will affect the pregnancy. Finally, consumption of alcohol is a habit that majority of pregnant women can control and reducing or abstaining from it will support the health of both the pregnancy and the baby. Reinforcing these beliefs would ensure safer pregnancies and healthy babies. Evaluation of the campaign after its surfacing showed that women recalled the key message and the highest number of those who the campaign had reached out too considered the abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy and were also concerned about the health of the baby.
Justification
Alcohol use during pregnancy awareness campaign are important in the prevention of pre-natal alcohol exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) (Jones & Telenta, 2012, p. 68). Prior the campaign in Australia, there was no known prevalence of the disorder but there was a rise of consumption of alcohol among pregnant woman until it was declared a public health issue (France et al, 2014). As per the statistic of the year 2007, 59% of women in west Australia consumed alcohol during pregnancy. The region had a culture that supported harmful use of alcohol (Azar et al, 2000, p. 326). One of the FASD disorder is the Fetal Alcohol Disorder(FAD) caused by alcohol causes behavioral, physical and cognitive impairments. They are demonstrated by: abnormalities of the facial characteristic. For instance, a flat nasal bridge and a thinner upper lip than normal. Also impairment in growth, abnormal functioning of a Central Nervous System(CNS) and its structure and limb defects. Other characteristics are: poor social skills, intellectual disabilities and speech delays among others. This is because alcohol is a teratogen and all teratogen substances interfere with the development of an embryo of fetus.
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause high risks to the brain and other body organs of the fetus. At any stage of the pregnancy, alcohol puts the baby at risk. In a case where a woman stops drinking alcohol during pregnancy the risk is reduced (McBride, Carruthers & Hutchinson, 2012, p.6) The first 3 to 6 weeks of the gestation period are very crucial since the fetus is so vulnerable to structure damage. It is therefore important to stay off alcohol during pregnancy. This is enough reason to come up with a program that manages the risks associated with alcohol consumption and pregnancy. The health promotion program ‘No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice’ is therefore important to help the women in the community who consume alcohol during pregnancy to adopt a change in behavior for healthy children birth. The campaign basically was structured to ask women about alcohol use, to advice on the risks of consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, to assist to deal with abstinence and reduction and also to refer to other health professionals for further assistance.
Weaknesses of the Program
This campaign was the first one on alcohol and pregnancy to be launched in western Australia. It was therefore hard to tell the specific elements that would enhance effectiveness. It was only later in 2014 that a study was done to show what message would be more effective to ensure more women considered the concerns of alcohol and pregnancy (France et al, 2014). The study evaluated three aspects as follows: threat appeal, the positive appeal or an integration of the two. The results were that the threat appeal won over the positive one that focused on one’s possibility to adopt a behavior change but the integration of both was the best to balance emotions. The threat approach was effective but had undesirable effects including worry, shame and guilt among women who cannot abstain and those who realize of their pregnancy status late (Jones & Telenta, 2012). Message passed by the campaign appeared lacked persuasiveness. This was evident from a research seeking answers to the reason of women using alcohol during pregnancy. They generally described low levels of consumption as risk free and also considered abstinence a burden. Also, they demonstrated lack of knowledge of alcohol contents in alcoholic beverages. (Meurk et al, 2014, p. 246). Health professional face a challenge due to technicality of questioning women about alcohol use during pregnancy (Miles, Francis & Chapman, 2010). Some feel judged with no intention by the midwives. This calls for creation of messages that persuades a person to adopt change but still protects their emotions.
Also a part of the message lacked credibility. This was mostly when low levels of exposure were concerned. No evidence on the recommendation policy that stated that no amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy (Holland, McCallum & Walton, 2016). Women in Australia are seen asking why they are denied the freedom of consuming low amounts of alcohol with no risks evident (Crawford-Williams et al, 2015, 329). To effectively advice the targeted people, the message should credible, able to persuade and evidence based. This though is not demonstrated by the campaign message. A lot of inconsistency on the recommendations on alcohol consumption during pregnancy within and even outside the country and this caused a lot of confusion amongst women (France et al, 2014).
Strengths of the Program
The program was structure in a way that it observed the health care approach. This is an approach that considers the five types of care which ensures that a program: promotes, prevents, cures, rehabilitates and refers (Canadian Nurses Association, 2000). It indeed promotes the no alcohol use during pregnancy, it prevents effects of alcohol during pregnancy and it demonstrates a solution to women who can’t stop using alcohol and helps in referrals for further support. Secondly, the five principles of care are embraced. These includes: accessibility, public participation, health promotion, use of appropriate technology and intersectoral cooperation which are advocated by World Health Organization (Canadian Nurses Association, 2000). For instance, the campaign used ads on television which is available to everyone to pass the message. The program was part of Alcohol.Think again education campaign and it uses a mass reach social marketing strategy to reach the community of Western Australia thereby the targeted group received the message. Also, women were involved in every step of the campaign ranging from research to evaluation process. For example, they shared the reasons for consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Participation was regardless of the socioeconomic status since consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is across all socioeconomic groups. The ability of health profession to embrace participation ensured respect for diversity thereby feasible decision to many (Van, 2005). Both the health care approach and the principles of health care ensure health services are delivered effectively.
Campaign on alcohol use during pregnancy have been conducted in other countries but evaluation is rarely done. This program performed follow ups to evaluate the progress of the campaign. Evaluation is really important to be able tell the effectiveness of the program and to tell if to administer change for a better future. More so, a chance to perform more research to clear the confusion of the available messages was available and also to come up with a solution for problems that were put across by women during evaluation. This would ensure innovations in the campaign that would solve the problems. A positive progress was evident, showing a big number of women reducing alcohol consumption and others abstaining from it during pregnancy. Finally, the program shows sustainability. The government spent $350 000 on campaigning online and on television. Researches were funded too and the campaign had a number of organization backing it. Availability of assets was therefore not a concern.
Opportunities of the Program
One of the favorable external factor was the support from Best start who allowed the use of ‘Alcohol and pregnancy: Health Professionals Making a Difference’ that guides specifically on maximizing of positive outcomes from the alcohol and pregnancy campaigns. The booklet was by the health professionals and women for women. This therefore enhances the effectiveness if followed. Women in West Australia believes that health professional are reliable in advising of alcohol use during pregnancy. This is a favorable factor that gives the health professional an opportunity to assist them in knowledge about the issue.
Threats of the Program
Society approval of consumption of alcohol is a challenge to the program. It is viewed as a rite of passage by the society. Before, the program there was rise and in alcohol consumption especially among young women. This is the very primary target of the campaign. As it is very well known that harmful use of alcohol causes unwanted pregnancy, this is one of the reasons of prenatal exposure of alcohol on the fetus in the first weeks before realization of pregnancy. In a random sample of non-aboriginal women of West Australia back in 2007, results showed that 47% of pregnancies were unwanted. Also the fact that society encourages use of alcohol was a threat to abstinence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy either due to in ability from addiction or lack of concern. Society is known to have significant influence in Australia both negatively and positively. For instance, it condemns smoking during pregnancy and this has reduced smoking during pregnancy (Wigginton & Lee, 2013, p. 466). It is therefore an external factor that really matter in this campaign.
Conclusion
The health promotion program by alcoholthinkagain is a program that campaigns for no alcohol during pregnancy is the safest choice. It was supported by a number of organisations including: the government, research institutions and drug and substance abuse offices. This was due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy being a public health issue. A large number of women indulged in alcohol use during pregnancy. Lack of knowledge about effects of alcohol on pregnancy and societal approval of consumption of alcohol were among the main reasons for it. The program advertised the message on posters, televisions and on social medias to enhance accessibility of the message. It embraced the primary health care approach. The main problem of the campaign was lack of evidence to base some of the message. Women were involved in the campaign by filing up an electronic questionnaire to assess the risk. The campaign is structured in a way that health professional campaign to all women who visit them over pregnancy issues. The professionals get a chance to advise them. it is a process health promotion therefore more research for the sake of innovation of ideas to enhance effectiveness are still being done.
References
Alcoholthinkagain. (2012). Alcohol and pregnancy. Retrieved from https://alcoholthinkagain.com.au/Campaigns/Campaign/ArtMID/475/ArticleID/6/Alcohol-and-pregnancy#liveChat
Azar, D., White, V., Bland, S., Livingston, M., Room, R., Chikritzhs, T., … & Wakefield, M. (2014). ‘Something’s brewing’: the changing trends in alcohol coverage in Australian newspapers 2000–2011. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 49(3), 336-342.
Canadian Nurses Association. (2000). Primary Health Care Approach. Retrieved from https://www.cna-aiic.ca/-/media/cna/page-content/pdf-en/fs02_primary_health_care_approach_june_2000_e.pdf?la=en&hash=C31F23CD20366955F267C04D737B32163F7D5623
Crawford-Williams, F., Steen, M., Esterman, A., Fielder, A., & Mikocka-Walus, A. (2015). “If you can have one glass of wine now and then, why are you denying that to a woman with no evidence”: knowledge and practices of health professionals concerning alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Women and Birth, 28(4), 329-335.
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Jones, S. C., & Telenta, J. (2012). What influences Australian women to not drink alcohol during pregnancy?. Australian journal of primary health, 18(1), 68-73.
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