The Prevention Network Action Team on FASD Prevention from a Women’s Health Determinants Perspective (pNAT)

In Canada, FASD prevention advocates work together to link up the local, provincial and national efforts through a virtual prevention research network, which receives financial support from the Canada FASD Research Network (CanFASD). Recently CanFASD refreshed their website, so national action on prevention is profiled. See https://canfasd.ca/topics/prevention/

The Prevention Network Action Team on FASD Prevention from a Women’s Health Determinants Perspective (pNAT) has four objectives. To advance prevention research, the pNAT builds multidisciplinary research teams, which develop research proposals, and conduct research, including evaluation research.  A second objective is to develop and implement strategies for moving “research into action”, for example through preparing and delivering workshops and curricula (both online and offline), and preparing and distributing policy briefs and reports. A third objective is to influence policy and service provision by proactively and collaboratively working with governments and communities to identify and implement service and policy improvements. It is through the fourth objective of networking and networked learning, that the other objectives are achievable. A virtual, national network becomes a location for sharing knowledge, expertise and skills.

The participants in the Canadian pNAT are inclusive of researchers, service providers,

This document about 10 fundamental components of FASD prevention was one of the first documents that the pNAT members wrote together, ten years ago now
https://canfasd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ConsensusStatement.pdf

health system planners, policy analysts, community based advocates and (where possible) mothers with lived experience. To achieve this participation, the pNAT employs a virtual community of inquiry (vCoI) model, supplemented by face-to-face meetings often held in conjunction with national and international conferences. Through the vCoI, participants are able to voluntarily attend monthly webmeetings to:

• Share updates on their work;
• Learn of recent additions to the evidence on FASD prevention;
• Discuss research, service provision and advocacy developments undertaken by members and by others in Canada; and
• Plan collective action.

In this way, participants learn together about FASD prevention, and are able to situate their own work within the field.

The community of inquiry framework developed by Garrison and colleagues (2003) provides the foundational, evidence-based design of the virtual community, and grounds it as a ‘learning’ one. In communities of inquiry, people construct meaning through epistemic engagement, as learners, teachers and social connectors (Shea & Bidjerano 2009). In key ways this virtual learning community model reflects the approach that service providers are finding helpful in interactions with mothers and families: i.e. as both teachers and learners, in relationships that prioritize safety, resilience and connectedness.

In addition to the monthly virtual community meetings, the pNAT uses this blog to share outwardly some of the key issues identified in the virtual community.  Visit the https://canfasd.ca/topics/prevention/ location to learn more about the pNAT and its many activities.

Garrison, D. R. and T. Anderson (2003). E-Learning in the 21st Century: A framework for research and practice. New York, NY, Routledge Falmer.

Shea, P., & Bidjerano, T. (2009). Community of inquiry as a theoretical framework to foster “epistemic engagement” and “cognitive presence” in online education. Computers & Education, 52(3), 543-553.