Best practices in prenatal health promotion: Perceptions, experiences, and recommendations of Ottawa, Canada, prenatal key informants.

Background: Prenatal health promotion includes the provision of evidence-based information and practical skills to optimize maternal-fetal outcomes. Increasingly, prenatal education is delivered by both healthcare professionals and allied childbirth educators, in community- or hospital-based group classes, targeted outreach programs, and online modules.

Objectives: To better understand how prenatal health promotion relates to a diverse urban community, we assessed the perspectives of Ottawa, Canada prenatal key informants.

Ottawa prenatal educator e-survey: Experiences and perceptions of public health nurses and allied childbirth educators.

Background: Prenatal education provides opportunities for health promotion of healthy behaviors and risk reduction. Quality and coherence with prenatal health promotion best practices depend on an individual class instructor. The objective of our study was to document the experiences, practices, and perceptions of our diverse Ottawa, Canada community of prenatal educators.

Best Practices for the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Prenatal Health Programs.

Introduction Prenatal health programs provide health education, reproductive care and related services to women. Programs may be administered individually or collaboratively by agencies including public health units, hospitals, health clinics, community and non-governmental organizations. Prenatal health disparities among populations at-risk may be reduced through the provision of accessible health education, services and resources to help women mitigate modifiable risks to pregnancy.

Best practices for online Canadian prenatal health promotion: A public health approach.

Background: Prenatal health promotion provides information regarding pregnancy risks, protective behaviours and clinical and community resources. Typically, women obtain prenatal health information from health care providers, prenatal classes, peers/family, media and increasingly, Internet sites and mobile apps. Barriers to prenatal health promotion and related services include language, rural/remote location, citizenship and disability.

Access to therapy services for people with disability in rural Australia: a carers' perspective.

In Australia and around the world, people with disability and their carers living in rural areas face additional challenges compared to their urban-dwelling counterparts. This cross-sectional study explored current access to therapy services for people with disability living in western New South Wales as reported by their primary carers. Data were collected using an online and paper survey distributed to carers, from December 2012 until June 2013.

Private Practice Disability Therapy Workforce in Rural New South Wales, Australia.

Despite an increasing demand for therapy services, there is a shortage of therapists in rural areas. We describe the existing private therapy workforce in rural western New South Wales (NSW), Australia. A cross-sectional design study, using an online survey, was conducted with occupational and physiotherapists, speech pathologists, and psychologists working in private practice in western NSW.

The development of a framework for high-quality, sustainable and accessible rural private therapy under the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Purpose: The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will provide people with individual funding with which to purchase services such as therapy from private providers. This study developed a framework to support rural private therapists to meet the anticipated increase in demand.

Method: The study consisted of three stages utilizing focus groups, interviews and an online expert panel.

Who are they and what do they do? Profile of allied health professionals working with people with disabilities in rural and remote New South Wales.

Objective: To explore the characteristics of allied health professionals (AHPs) working with people with disabilities in western New South Wales (NSW).

Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using an online questionnaire.

Setting: Rural western NSW.

Should I stay or should I go? Exploring the job preferences of allied health professionals working with people with disability in rural Australia.

Introduction: The uneven distribution of allied health professionals (AHPs) in rural and remote Australia and other countries is well documented. In Australia, like elsewhere, service delivery to rural and remote communities is complicated because relatively small numbers of clients are dispersed over large geographic areas. This uneven distribution of AHPs impacts significantly on the provision of services particularly in areas of special need such as mental health, aged care and disability services.

Barriers to the use of Information and Communication Technology by occupational therapists working in a rural area of New South Wales, Australia.

Background/aim: This qualitative study formed part of a large-scale, multi-phase study into the delivery of therapy services to people with a disability, living in one rural area of New South Wales, Australia. The study's purpose was to identify the impact of Information and Communication Technology on the workforce practices of occupational therapists' working in a rural area of New South Wales.

Methods: Individual semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 13 occupational therapists working in disability, health and private practice in a rural area of New South Wales.