The FASD Prevention Conversation Program recognizes that preventing prenatal alcohol exposure is a shared responsibility. Facilitators actively engage a wide range of professionals and others, including healthcare providers, educators, social workers, community leaders, and concerned citizens throughout Alberta. Together, they can create a network of individuals committed to spreading awareness and supporting expectant individuals in making informed decisions.
Resources: The Prevention Conversation developed two sets of resources, aimed at building knowledge and capacity of participants to engage in FASD prevention conversations and connecting them with additional supports if needed.
• Let’s Talk About Alcohol and Pregnancy, with a focus on adults of childbearing age, introduced in 2013, and last updated in 2023.
• Let’s Get Real about Sex and Drinking, with a focus on adolescent audiences, introduced in 2017, and last updated in 2020.
Resources include training manuals, PowerPoint slides with speaker notes, factsheets, multi media, a community of practice, and professional development opportunities.
Objectives:
1. Raise public awareness about the negative effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy and connect women and their partners to information and services related to prenatal alcohol use.
2. Equip and support primary care providers to use tools and techniques designed to engage women in non-judgmental, empathetic conversations about alcohol use during pregnancy.
3. Create and nurture community connections between health and social services and the FASD Service Network.
Target Groups:
• Primary: education, health, mental health, social service providers, and other professionals working with youth, women of child-bearing age and their partners, and communities across Alberta.
• Secondary: youth, women and their partners of child-bearing age, and communities in Alberta.