Proposal for Interactive Development
Website
This website has been developed in collaboration with Datasmith Ltd. The project is hosted on behalf of Aberdeenshire Alcohol & Drug Action Team, by Alcohol Support, 62 Dee Street, Aberdeen AB11 6DS. We recieved funded by the Changing Children's Service's Fund, managed by the AADAT Pregnancy, Alcohol & Drugs Development Group, and will be monitored by the AADAT Children & Young People's Subgroup.
Online Support
Currently over 50% of adults in Scotland have home access to the internet, and the majority of people, even in remote and rural areas, live less than one mile from a public internet access point. Home internet access is mediated by income, however even low income households are planning internet access, and one in four currently have it.
Why use the web?
Drinking and drug use in pregnancy has some particular features which make the web particularly salient for providing interventions that support behavioural change:
- Preference for anonymity
- Massive fear of stigma and labelling
- Unsociable hours requiring 24/7 access to support
- Most people with alcohol or drug problems recover without contact with a professional
- The belief that most of the time your problems are not serious enough to match the services you know about
- The desire to do something about the problem ‘on your own'
- The biggest factor in sustaining recovery is successfully building new social networks and regaining social capital
- Sustained recovery requires re-establishing identity and achieving ‘normal' long term life goals
- Recovery often stimulates the desire to help other people with similar problems
- The most computer literate age group is also the age group developing addiction problems
Our system is designed to deliver secure and confidential online advice and support. The counselling system is designed specifically to enforce security levels for therapeutic work far in excess of conventional Internet ‘security', without creating barriers to client access. We have developed a number of motivational enhancement interventions specifically for use with this project, taken from existing therapeutic approaches.
Community Pilot
What we want to achieve
- Following Routine Enquiry approach
- Early intervention
- Helping women make informed choices
- Removing pressure on midwife time
- Reducing stigma and fear of consequences of disclosure
- Measuring drinking and delivering up-to-date advice, information and support
- Discussing substance use as a family issue
- Self-completion activity
- Issued to all newly pregnant women at booking
What we are going to do
- Design and print a booklet of material and tools to promote self-change
- Identify and liaise with specialist services to support any referrals generated
- Design an informational website and set up a confidential phone contact to give further information to pregnant women and back up to the tool
- Identify four areas within Aberdeenshire in which it will be piloted for a six month period
- Run a comparison control group receiving existing information on pregnancy, alcohol and drugs
- Distribute the resource to 200 women across the areas
- Run a training session for midwives in the four pilot areas, to launch the booklet and explain the thinking behind it
- Monitor the six month pilot, addressing issues that arise as the trial period progresses
- Collect qualitative data from midwives regarding their experience of issuing/following up the booklet
- Collect qualitative data from women who receive a copy of the booklet in the four pilot areas
- Evaluate and review the pilot project
- Make recommendations regarding future strategic direction, investment in services and intervention
Our Research and Development Timeline:
