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Don't ask, don't tell doesn't work in prenatal care |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: While obstetrical care providers are doing a good job working with their patients on smoking cessation, they are not doing as well on abuse of other substances that can harm a woman's unborn baby. A new study appearing in the September 2008 issue of the journal Patient Education and Counseling reports that patients don't volunteer information about substance abuse unless specifically queried. Listening to the tapes, the researchers found that prenatal care providers were not comfortable talking with their patients about dealing with drug and alcohol abuse in spite of routinely mentioning health risks of such behavior on the unborn infant. "Studies that simply rely on questionnaires for data may not get to the level of specificity needed to understand the mechanisms by which physicians and patients communicate. Dr. Frankel is professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, a research scientist with the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and an investigator at the Roudebush VA Center of Excellence for Implementing Evidence Based Practice. The researchers call for obstetrical care providers -- both physicians and midwives -- to learn more about drug and alcohol cessation programs, to ask questions and to have information and counseling available when dealing with patients who use or are at risk for abusing illicit drugs or alcohol. Obstetrical care providers may be more comfortable dealing with tobacco but alcohol and elicit drugs are just as, if not more, important to address. Doctors and midwives need to know what resources are available for counseling and which of these programs are most likely to work for expectant mothers.
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