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Upcoming workshops in northern BC
If you’re at all interested in the latest findings from neuroscience on mental health and brain development and what you can do in practice to support at-risk infants (including infants with FASD), then you’d probably love to attend a 1 day workshop with Evelyn Wotherspooon.
There are three workshop dates:
- February 27, 2012 – Fort St. John
- February 29, 2012 – Terrace
- March 2, 2012 – Prince George
The workshops are free and intended primarily for therapists, support workers, key workers, social workers, teachers, teacher aides, childcare workers, infant development workers, public health nurses, and Aboriginal service providers. View the workshop poster with registration details here.
If you can’t attend the workshops, Evelyn Wotherspoon has a website chock full of resources – online lectures, news articles, information sheets – covering issues ranging from child protection and family law to trauma and caregiving.
Publication from the Edmonton Streetworks Program
The Streetworks Program in Edmonton has an amazing resource for pregnant women living in an inner city context. (For more on the program, visit the website or see an earlier post Streetworks’ Supports for Homeless Pregnant Women project).
This 50 page guide to pregnancy for women who are street-involved covers everything from prenatal care (e.g., doctors & stuff, vitamins) to food to harm reduction information on using while pregnant to getting ready for labour to taking or not taking baby home. It has tips and suggestions in the form of “Street Talk” boxes which have been developed by program staff (some of whom were once homeless and pregnant at one time) who have a good sense of what realities are for the women they work with.
In terms of information about pregnancy and alcohol, the guide says: “The safest option for your baby is to not use alcohol, cigarettes, or any drugs while you’re pregnant. What you should know is that the two worst things to use for your baby are alcohol and tobacco. Both of these have really long term effects on your baby, and the less you can use of them, the better.” There’s also a page called “The Problem with Booze.”
The resource is available in PDF on the Streetworks website and is free to download for use in educational contexts.
Webinar Briefing on Monday, November 14, 2011 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EST
A report called Kiskisik Awasisak: Remember the Children. Understanding the Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in the Child Welfare System will be released next week and there will be a webinar briefing on the report on November 14th @ 2pm (EST).
The report is based on the largest study of child welfare investigations involving First Nations children ever conducted in Canada. The study examines data collected from 89 provincial/territorial agencies and 22 First Nations and urban Aboriginal agencies and the findings are intended help understand the factors contributing to the over-representation of First Nations children in the child welfare system and to make changes to funding and practice models.
Canada’s child welfare system has a historical pattern of removing Aboriginal children from their homes. You can learn more about this issue by examining the Aboriginal Child Welfare section of the Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal.
One component of the report documents issues that female caregivers were dealing with at the time of the investigations and which potentially influenced their abilities to care for their children. Case workers noted:
- multiple risk factors in 56% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 34% of non-Aboriginal child investigations).
- domestic violence victimization in 43% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 30% of non- Aboriginal child investigations).
- alcohol abuse in 40% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 8% of non-Aboriginal child investigations).
- lack of social supports in 37% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 30% of non-Aboriginal child investigations).
- drug/solvent abuse in 25% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 10% of non-Aboriginal child investigations).
- history of foster/group home care in 13% of First Nations child investigations (vs. 5% of non- Aboriginal child investigations).
It would be interesting to see how these issues were addressed after they were identified. For example, did learning that a woman has a substance use problem lead to support in accessing treatment or child apprehension? Or, how many apprehensions could have been averted if the woman had identifiable social supports?
You can register for the webinar here and learn more about the study here.
Reducing Barriers to Support for Women who Experience Violence
The BC Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH) has just released a Reducing Barriers toolkit that provides Transition Housing programs and other service providers that support women, with tools to effectively provide services to women fleeing violence who have varying levels of mental wellness and/or substance use.
In Canada, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime. The stress and fear stemming from violent experiences can lead to chronic health problems and affect levels of mental wellness and substance use. However, it is often these women who experience barriers to accessing transition housing.
The toolkit draws upon current policies, procedures and practices of BCSTH Members and non-BCSTH Members in BC; a review practices in Canada and internationally; group discussions and surveys with 94 women who had experienced violence in BC; and, surveys of staff in Transition Housing programs in BC.
The toolkit includes background information about the relationships between violence against women, mental wellness and substance use, and why it is important to provide services to women with experiences of each and promising practices for working with women.
On the subject of pregnancy and mothering, the authors comment:
“While pregnant and mothering women who experience violence are often viewed sympathetically, predominant messages around mothering have lead women whose mental wellness and/or substance use is impacted by violence, to be labelled as abusers themselves. Service providers working with mothers and pregnant women tend to focus on the child or fetus, at the expense of the woman and the context she lives in. Substance use especially is seen as a choice, and the contexts that lead to substance use (such as violence and poverty) are often overlooked.”
You can download Reducing Barriers to Support for Women Fleeing Violence: A Toolkit for Supporting Women withVarying Levels of Mental Wellness and Substance Use here and visit the BC Society of Transition Houses website to learn more about the project here.
The development of the toolkit was funded through Status of Women Canada.
I’ve posted about the Power and Control Model for Women’s Substance Abuse from the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence before, but I thought I’d add it again as it’s a good visual way of seeing the interrelationships between alcohol and substance use and violence.
POWER AND CONTROL MODEL FOR WOMEN’S SUBSTANCE ABUSE Copyright © 1996 Marie T. O’Neil, adapted from the Power and Control Wheel developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, Duluth, MN. Available from the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
The Getting Connected Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder 4th Annual Fall Conference will be held Friday, November 4th and Saturday, November 5th, 2011 at Douglas College (New Westminster, BC).
The conference is an opportunity for learning and networking about FASD and will use a variety of forums, including lecture, panel discussion, information tables and group discussions. Click here for more information and here to see the program.
Sterling Clarren, Director of the Canada Northwest FASD Research Network, is one of the keynote speakers and will be talking about what’s happening around the world in relation to FASD prevention, research and practice.
Other sessions that might be of interest to readers of this blog, include:
Trauma and FASD with Dr. Daria Shewchuck – Daria Shewchuk has an Masters in Social work and a PhD in Clinical Psychology, and brings extensive experience working with children, adults, families and communities in the areas of trauma, attachment, sexual abuse, and family violence. Dr. Shewchuk will present on working with trauma issues with children and adults who have FASD.
Drug and Alcohol Treatment: An Aboriginal Perspective with Jenelle McMillan – Jenelle will share about Cultural Connections, a program that was developed to be “different” from other substance misuse treatment programs that are often unsuccessful for individuals living with FASD. Cultural Connections includes hands-on training which integrates cultural knowledge and “walking a good road” to avoid addictions. The program operates from a First Nations framework and provides participants with an appropriate environment to develop personal growth, self-discovery and a path for recovery.
New article profiles FASD prevention research
Amy Salmon and Sterling Clarren, members of the Canada Northwest FASD Research Network, have an article that was published last week on FASD diagnosis and prevention research in northern Canada.
Salmon and Clarren provide some interesting history on FASD research in Canada. They comment: “For over thirty years, prevention efforts were assumed to be clear, uncomplicated and achievable: warning pregnant women of the hazards of alcohol consumption would lead to consistent alcohol avoidance, and placing those with FASD in programs for people with disabilities would maximize their outcomes. The accumulated experiences of clinicians, women, families and people living with FASD have challenged this assumption.”
The article profiles two research initiatives related to the diagnosis and prevention of FASD. Members of our Network Action Team are involved with the prevention initiative. The article describes: “A team of researchers and service providers in the Northwest Territories has been working since July 2009 to develop a research project on the prevention of FASD that explores the relationships between experiences of trauma and alcohol-use patterns in northern Indigenous communities.” The article also explores the importance of and strategies for developing North-South collaborations.
If you’re interested in some history on alcohol use in northern communities or epidemiological data, you might want check out a recent article by Gina Muckle and colleagues. They describe how the introduction to alcohol to indigenous groups in Canada can be traced back to the Hudson Bay region during the seventeenth century when European fur traders used alcohol as gifts and to obtain furs. They comment: “Explanations for the contemporary high rates of alcohol use among Aboriginal peoples pertain to a wide array of domains, including biology, culture, local community, learned behavior, psychological distress, and political as well as economic and historical factors.”
In their study, they interviewed 208 Inuit women from Arctic Quebec at midpregnancy, and at 1 and 11 months postpartum. They comment: “Surprisingly, alcohol use and binge drinking are associated with higher SES [socioeconomic status] and greater acculturation to national Canadian culture in this sample, as indicated by less crowded living conditions and greater mastery of English or French. Thus, by contrast to other Aboriginal groups, younger women with lower SES do not appear to be the most appropriate target group for prevention in this population.” They explore the role of restricted access to the sale of alcohol in Nunavik and “dry” communities in understanding this finding.
References:
Muckle, G., Laflamme, D., Gagnon, J., Boucher, O., Jacobson, J. L. and Jacobson, S. W. (2011). Alcohol, Smoking, and Drug Use Among Inuit Women of Childbearing Age During Pregnancy and the Risk to Children. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35: 1081–1091. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01441.x
Salmon, A. and Clarren, S.K. (2011). Developing effective, culturally appropriate avenues to FASD diagnosis and prevention in northern Canada. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, published online 29.08.2011. PMID: 21878184. Download the free full-text here.
Gender differences in alcohol treatment
I just read a great article published on The Partnership at Drugfree.org web site called “Gender Differences Emerge in Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment” (Celia Vimont, July 19, 2011). The Partnership at Drugfree.org is a US non-profit organization working to address substance use issues for families.
Vimont interviews several leading researchers about how women’s needs are often different than men’s when looking at treatment for alcohol misuse.
I was particularly interested in the work of Denise Hien who is making links between substance use and trauma. Hien and colleagues published a paper in 2010 called “Do Treatment Improvements in PTSD Severity Affect
Substance Use Outcomes? A Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Clinical Trial in NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network” (Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167:95-101, doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.090912610).
Clinically, women who have both symptoms of trauma/post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use issues are usually treated for substance use first because of the assumption that treating the trauma first will make the substance use worse. But what if a past experience of trauma underlies the substance use? Should you still treat the substance use first? Hien and colleagues explored these issues by asking:
- Should PTSD symptoms be targeted to improve substance use outcomes?
- Should substance use symptoms be targeted to improve PTSD outcomes?
- Or should both sets of symptoms be addressed for clinically meaningful treatment benefits?
The researchers explored these questions in a group of women participating in a community-based substance abuse treatment program. Half the women participated in a Seeking Safety-style trauma-oriented program while the other half received a more general, issue-oriented program.
They found that treating trauma symptoms first in women who suffer from both substance abuse and trauma/PTSD led to a reduction in substance abuse. There was little evidence that treating substance abuse first improved trauma symptoms. They argue that the most effective treatment models are those that address trauma before substance use or simultaneously.
Program addresses the needs of pregnant and parenting women with substance use problems and their young children
Children’s Mental Health Ontario is hosting a webcast on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 (10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST) on Toronto’s Breaking the Cycle (BTC) program.
In 2004, ‘Breaking the Cycle’ was recognized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as an exemplary program serving pregnant and parenting women with substance use problems and their young children. The webcast will provide an overview of the program, a description of the client population served, and illustrate the ‘real world’ application of the model (e.g., interventions and approaches used). Evaluation outcomes will also be highlighted.
BTC clients receive services in a single access setting in downtown Toronto with home visitation and street outreach components. The program works with mothers prenatally and until their children reach the age of 6. Families receive integrated addictions counselling, health/medical services, parenting support, development screening and assessment, early childhood interventions, child care, access to FASD Diagnostic Clinic, and basic needs support (e.g., meals support, transportation).
The program is funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) and Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) and operates through the efforts of eight partner agencies.
BTC has published three evaluation reports and over 30 published papers, book chapters and articles. Many of these can be viewed on the Mothercraft publications page. You’ll also likely find other resources of interest there on working with women around alcohol abuse.
For more information about the webcast and registration details, visit the Children’s Mental Health Ontario web site.
Registration for this November conference is now open
The Promising Practices, Promising Futures Alberta FASD Conference will be held on November 21 and November 22, 2011 in Calgary, Alberta. The schedule, registration guide, and other info are available on the Government of Alberta web site.
Plenary speakers include Martin Brokenleg, co-author of Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future and Gabor Mate, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction and Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers.
NAT member, Dorothy Badry, will be presenting a session on “A Casework Practice Model for Children in Care with FASD: Developing Practice Knowledge for Children with FASD.” Other presentations related to prevention include:
- “My Addiction was the Solution, My Problem is Abuse”: The Risks of Ignoring the Role of Violence in the Lives of Women Who Are Pregnant and Substance Using (Jill Cory, Alexxa Abi‐Jaoude, and Louise Godard)
- Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Engaging Communities in FASD Awareness (Danna Ormstrup)
- Towards Self‐Forgiveness and Self Worth: Journeys of Birth Mothers of Children with FASD (Megan Wood)
- Overview of Alcohol Use and Pregnancy Clinical Guidelines (Doug Wilson)
