Exploring the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the Northwest Territories of Canada: Brightening our home fires

• Published in: The International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research
• Main Authors: Badry, Dorothy, Felske, Aileen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol (KBS) 2013
• Subjects: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; women’s health; prevention; Northwest Territories; homelessness; Yellowknife; Canada; inuit
• Online Access: http://www.ijadr.org/index.php/ijadr/article/view/125; https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i3.125

Badry, D., & Felske, A. (2013). Exploring the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the Northwest Territories of Canada: Brightening our home fires. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 2(3), 7-15. doi:10.7895/ijadr.v2i3.125 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i3.125)Aims: The prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in a Northern context from a woman’s health perspective was explored in the qualitative research study, Brightening Our Home Fires (BOHF). It is recognized that research on the prevention of FASD is a sensitive topic due to stigma associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. Women’s health and FASD prevention were identified as the focus of the research, as they are deeply intertwined topics.Design: The BOHF project was designed as a participation action research project that utilized Photovoice as a primary methodology to approach the topic of FASD prevention in the Northwest Territories (NT) from a women’s health lens.Setting: This research took place in Yellowknife, NT. Participants included both Dene and Inuit women.Participants: Eight women living in a homeless centre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.Measures: This was a qualitative research study that utilized Participatory Action Research (PAR) to explore women’s health in the North. Photovoice was the primary methodology. The analysis of this research focused on both image and text, and a depth analysis of text led to theme identification.Findings: Findings included the importance, to women participants, of housing, access to treatment resources for alcohol, and engagement with health-related resources, and the challenges they experience that are related to their histories of trauma.Conclusions: Engagement with women in the NT on FASD prevention was important in broadly identifying the linkages between trauma and alcohol use while respecting context and stigma around alcohol use and pregnancy.