One More Conversation Can Make the Difference: Reducing substance use during pregnancy in Vermont

Full Description: This workshop will present the development of a health communications campaign that encourages health care providers and pregnant individuals to have a conversation about substance use at every prenatal visit with the goal of lowering the rate of substance use during pregnancy in Vermont. We will share background on this tenacious issue, guide the AMCHP audience through our process of developing the campaign, discuss outcomes, and talk about future of the campaign.
This project clearly illustrates the conference theme because we reflected on past efforts to raise awareness and inform health care providers about the issue of substance use during pregnancy; and encourage conversations about the importance of a substance-free pregnancy and postpartum period giving providers more opportunities to educate and treat patients.
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMs) data indicates Vermont has some of the highest rates of substance use throughout pregnancy in the country, making it a persistent Maternal and Child Health issue. Substance use is increasing across different demographic segmentations such as members of the BIPOC community and individuals on Medicaid.
In 2014, the Vermont Department of Health launched a campaign called Zero for Nine (049) to address high rates of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in VT. When this campaign was evaluated in 2017 we found no impact on the audiences it was designed to reach.
Our 2019 formative evaluation included a review of the PRAMs data, an environmental scan, key informant interviews, and an anonymous online survey. We developed a health communications campaign based on the evaluation findings. The key informant interviews revealed that providers universally screened their patients for substance use during the first prenatal visit, but not throughout the pregnancy or postpartum.
From the environmental scan, we knew that a strong and trusting provider/patient relationship had to be in place for patients to reveal information about substance use.
We created “One More Conversation Can Make the Difference” to encourage frequent dialogue about substance use. This campaign contains tools to help support these conversations. Materials were designed for health care providers to use when talking to patients and are shared online and in print.
The advertising campaign on Google and Facebook successfully reached the audience and we saw high levels of engagement. Something that helped with campaign engagement was our partnership with clinician champions who helped bring attention and credibility to the campaign.
We are in the early stages of understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use in general, and during pregnancy specifically. Recognizing that individuals are experiencing high stress as social isolation, and that economic hardships will continue, there is an even greater need to help people manage life's stressors without substances.

Abbreviated Description: This workshop will present the development of a health communications campaign that encourages health care providers and pregnant individuals to have a conversation about substance use at every prenatal visit with the goal of lowering the rate of substance use during pregnancy in Vermont. We will share background on this tenacious issue, guide the AMCHP audience through our process of developing the campaign, discuss outcomes, and talk about future of the campaign.