# The fundamentals of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Evaluation of an awareness‐raising webinar

## TL;DR

An online training session improved healthcare professionals' knowledge and attitudes about prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD, with effects lasting up to 12 months.

## Contribution

Demonstrates the effectiveness of a scalable training program in improving FASD awareness among health and social care professionals.

## Key findings

- Training significantly improved knowledge and attitudes immediately after the session.
- Improvements in FASD knowledge declined over time but remained above pretraining levels at 12 months.
- Attitudes toward health advice and alcohol use in pregnancy were sustained over the 12-month period.

## Abstract

Health professionals in the UK and internationally often lack knowledge of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Raising awareness of PAE and FASD across health and social care sectors is vital to support Scotland's implementation of neurodevelopmental pathways. This study evaluated whether engaging in the Fundamentals of FASD contributed to change in (i) attitudes toward the health advice given to pregnant women, (ii) attitudes toward PAE, (iii) attitudes toward FASD, and (iv) knowledge of FASD. Furthermore, this study examined whether knowledge and attitudinal changes are maintained to 12 months posttraining.

A total of 1327 attendees attended across 14 workshops. Of these, 1005 completed an initial evaluation questionnaire assessing their attitudes and knowledge toward PAE and FASD (pretraining [“T1”]). Repeated‐measure follow‐up responses were collected immediately after training (“T2”; n = 525); at 3 months (“T3”; n = 128); and at 12 months (“T4”; n = 157).

Linear mixed models revealed trainees demonstrated significant improvement on all measures at posttraining but demonstrated a varied pattern at the T3 and T4 follow‐up. Attitudes toward the health advice about alcohol use in pregnancy and alcohol use in pregnancy generally demonstrated no change between T2 and T4, indicating improvement was sustained from T2 to T4. In contrast, attitudes toward FASD and FASD knowledge were observed to significantly decline from T2 through to T4, albeit remaining higher than the pretraining.

Attending the Fundamentals of FASD was associated with significant improvement in knowledge and attitudes toward PAE and FASD. A decline in FASD knowledge across time, albeit remaining above pretraining scores suggests ongoing or refresher training is required. Provision of training within continuing professional development frameworks may help sustain awareness and encourage healthcare professionals to be better equipped in supporting individuals affected by PAE and/or FASD.

This study examined the effectiveness of an online training session, the Fundamentals of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) for Health and Social Care Professionals, which was effective in changing knowledge of and attitudes toward prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD. The training session was associated with increased knowledge and more appropriate attitudes immediately post training. Improvements attenuated but remained above pretraining levels at 12 months. Such training represents a pragmatic and scalable component of a broader systems approach to improving FASD knowledge.