“Let's Talk" about CDC's Current Collaborative Strategy to Communicate with Healthcare Providers about Alcohol Use During Pregnancy and Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:

Alcohol use during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and a range of behavioral, intellectual, and physical disabilities known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). While evidence-based approaches to decreasing alcohol use during pregnancy exist, research suggests healthcare professionals are implementing them inconsistently and ineffectually.

Methods:

The presenter will describe the need identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (CDC NCBDDD) for communication messaging to address alcohol use during pregnancy and provide a rationale for developing new resources for healthcare providers. She will also highlight past communication approaches and challenges to address this topic both from CDC’s perspective and the broader field of prevention research and practice.

Results:

In 2021, CDC funded Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to lead research to characterize the attitudes of healthcare professionals and patients who can become pregnant toward alcohol use during pregnancy. This research also examined messaging and dissemination approaches to encourage alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) and clinical conversations about alcohol use during pregnancy.

Conclusions:

Based on how FASD prevention messaging has evolved over time, current communication challenges, and CDC NCBDDD’s future communication goals related to alcohol use during pregnancy, the formative research and resulting development of NCBDDD’s new “Let’s Talk” communication materials was timely and needed.

Implications for research and/or practice:

The presenter will provide an overview of how CDC NCBDDD partners have been and will be engaged in informing the “Let’s Talk” products and amplifying the reach of these new resources.