ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9016-1251
Current Organisation
Department of Health
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Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 31-07-2020
Abstract: Breastfeeding provides benefits to the infant and mother however, the rates of breastfeeding, particularly exclusive breastfeeding, remain below optimal levels in many Asian countries. The aim of this study is to review the benefits of breastfeeding to mothers and infants and current rates of breastfeeding in Vietnam, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile application on exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in Vietnam. A two-arm, parallel triple-blinded randomised controlled trial will be conducted among 1000 mothers in Hanoi City, Vietnam, during 2020–2021. Eligible participants are pregnant women who will seek antenatal care from health facilities at 24–36 weeks of gestation and plan to deliver at two participating hospitals, own a smartphone, and carry a singleton foetus. Permuted-block randomisation method stratified by maternal age, education and parity will be used to ensure an equal number of participants in each group. A smartphone app will be developed to deliver breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding information to the intervention and control group, respectively. Data will be collected at baseline, before hospital discharge, and at 1, 4, and 6 months postpartum. This study envisages demonstrating whether a smartphone-based intervention can be effective at improving breastfeeding in Vietnam. Trials registration: ACTRN12619000531112.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 05-05-2022
Abstract: Participant engagement is an important consideration in mHealth interventions and there are no standardised measurements available to guide researchers. This paper describes the engagement index customised for the Milk Man app, a mobile app designed to engage fathers with breastfeeding and parenting information. Participants were recruited from maternity hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. An engagement index with scores ranging from 0 to 100 was calculated. Kaplan Meier survival analysis was used to determine difference in duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and Pearson’s chi square analysis was conducted to investigate the association of engagement level with demographic characteristics and exclusive breastfeeding at 6 weeks. While overall, partners of participants who installed Milk Man were less likely to have ceased exclusive breastfeeding at any time point from birth to six weeks postpartum, this result was modest and of borderline significance (log rank test p = 0.052 Breslow p = 0.046 Tarone-Ware p = 0.049). The mean engagement score was 29.7% (range 1–80%), median 27.6%. Engagement level had no impact on duration of exclusive breastfeeding and demographic factors were not associated with engagement level. This research demonstrates a range of metrics that can be used to quantify participant engagement. However, more research is needed to identify ways of measuring effective engagement.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1071/PY18103
Abstract: Globally, the public health recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding to the first 6 months of life is not being achieved by many low- and middle-income countries. Many factors have been determined to affect the early cessation of breastfeeding however, little attention has been paid to the role of alcohol, an increasingly favoured commodity, particularly in these Westernised nations. Maternal healthcare practitioners play a pivotal role in a woman’s breastfeeding journey by providing timely advice that can help support continued breastfeeding. Maternal healthcare practitioners (MHP) from across Australia were invited to take part in a semi-structured telephone interview (n = 19) to elicit their knowledge of a national alcohol policy guideline on alcohol and breastfeeding, their confidence to provide information on this topic, and if they were routinely incorporating conversations on alcohol and breastfeeding into their practice. The results affirmed that the majority of MHP were not aware of the national policy providing direction for safely consuming alcohol during lactation and were not incorporating this information into their practice. This study suggests having a national policy guideline for safe alcohol consumption during lactation has not promoted awareness of this topic among MHP as a potential strategy to support long-term breastfeeding duration.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S10995-017-2318-8
Abstract: Objectives Monitoring surveys and research outline a paucity of alcohol consumption data for women in the period of lactation, particularly in rural areas of developed countries. Identifying the drinking profile of ante- and postnatal women in this population will aid in the effective dissemination of public health interventions. This paper will present the first alcohol consumption data of pregnant and breastfeeding women living in rural Western Australia (WA). Methods A prospective cohort of 489 mothers and their infants were recruited between April 2010 and November 2011. All women regardless of their infant feeding method were followed up at 4, 10, 16, 26, 32, 40 and 52 weeks postpartum. Data were analysed to ascertain the prevalence and patterns of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and lactation. Results Approximately 20% of women consumed alcohol during pregnancy, with a predominance of women from older age groups and smokers. At 4, 6 and 12 months postpartum 45.9%, 47.0% and 51.9% of breastfeeding mothers were consuming alcohol respectively. Conclusions for Practice There remains a considerable proportion of women who continue to drink during pregnancy. Although proven successful, public health c aigns now need to target women who are older and who smoke. Women are continuing to consume alcohol during the period of lactation, with the majority doing so at low levels.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 30-01-2018
Abstract: reastfeeding is important for infants, and fathers are influential in supporting their partner in their decision to breastfeed and how long they breastfeed for. Fathers can feel excluded from traditional antenatal education and support opportunities but highly value social support from peers. Online health forums can be a useful source of social support, yet little is known about how fathers would use a conversation forum embedded in a breastfeeding-focused app. Milk Man is a mobile app that aimed to increase paternal support for breastfeeding using a range of strategies, including a conversation forum. he aim of this study was to examine how fathers used a breastfeeding-focused conversation forum contained within a mobile app throughout the perinatal period. qualitative analysis of comments posted by users in the online forum contained within the Milk Man app was conducted. The app contained a library of information for fathers, as well as a conversation forum. Thematic analysis was used to organize and understand the data. The NVivo 11 software package was used to code comments into common nodes, which were then organized into key themes. n all, 208 contributors (35.5% [208/586] of those who had access to the app) posted at least once within the forum. In total, 1497 comments were included for analysis. These comments were coded to 3799 in idual nodes and then summarized to 54 tree nodes from which four themes emerged to describe how fathers used the app. Themes included seek and offer support, social connection, informational support provision, and sharing experiences. Posting in the forum was concentrated in the antenatal period and up to approximately 6 weeks postpartum. hese data show that fathers are prepared to use a breastfeeding-focused online forum in a variety of ways to facilitate social support. Fathers can be difficult to reach in the perinatal period, yet engaging them and increasing social support is important. This research demonstrates the acceptability of an innovative way of engaging new and expecting fathers.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 23-03-2023
Abstract: This review aims to synthesize the literature describing policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries, spanning the period 2000 to October 2021. The charitable food system provides food assistance to increasing numbers of people experiencing food insecurity in industrialized countries. Calls to improve the nutrition quality of foods provided by foods banks, pantries, and shelves have increased, yet little is known about the challenges faced when initiating policy in this setting. A protocol based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Guidelines was developed and registered with Open Science Framework. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE [Ovid], Global Health, ProQuest, and Scopus) were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English. A gray literature search was conducted using Google Advanced Search. Of 642 peer-reviewed articles screened, 15 were eligible for inclusion. In addition, 24 gray literature documents were included. These 39 papers were assessed against the Iron Triangle of Hunger Relief and the C bell et al framework of organizational factors. Six themes were identified: (1) there is a moral imperative to take action to ensure the provision of appropriate and nutritious food for vulnerable clients (2) nutrition policies are unlikely to be formalized (3) the unpredictability of donated food is a barrier to providing healthy foods (4) reliance on donations affects the sector’s willingness to reduce the unhealthy inventory for fear of losing donors, and the challenges of managing donor relationships were emphasized (5) organizational capacity (volunteer workforce, executive leadership support) must be considered (6) the existing measure of success is a weight-based metric that does not support food banks’ prioritizing of healthy foods. These, and other characteristics, were incorporated into an adapted framework. There is a need and opportunity for nutrition-focused food banking. A priority action area is the adoption of an outcome metric that is based on nutritional quality, to reorient the charitable food system.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-04-2019
DOI: 10.3390/NU11040883
Abstract: The use of antenatal colostrum expression in the weeks prior to birth may help improve long-term breastfeeding, but few large-scale studies exist. Typically, antenatal colostrum expression instruction relies on face-to-face education, making large interventions costly. We aimed to determine whether an expert online instructional video can improve knowledge and confidence around antenatal colostrum expressing. Pregnant women were asked to complete a questionnaire pre- and post-watching the instructional video online. Ninety five pregnant women completed both pre- and post-questionnaires. Total antenatal colostrum expression knowledge scores improved after watching the video, from a mean of 3.05 ± 1.70 correct out of a maximum of 7, to 6.32 ± 0.76 (p 0.001). Self-reported confidence around hand expressing in pregnancy also improved from an average ranking of not confident (2.56 ± 1.17, out of a possible 5) to confident (4.32 ± 0.80, p 0.001). Almost all women (98%) reported that they would recommend the video to a friend or family member if antenatal colostrum expression was suggested by their healthcare provider. Findings suggest that the use of an online expert video is an acceptable and effective way to educate pregnant women in antenatal colostrum expression.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-03-2022
DOI: 10.1002/HPJA.584
Abstract: In Australia, food sovereignty of traditional landowners has been marginalised by the globalisation of food systems and resulted in limited opportunities for children to experience familiar bush tucker foods as healthy choices, particularly in a school environment. Superhero Foods ® themed teaching resources focus on the development of nutrition education materials that included traditional Aboriginal foods together with contemporary foods readily available in regional/remote communities. Consultation with an Aboriginal expert and Aboriginal artist local, regional/remote teachers and stakeholders informed the development of tailored resources including food cartoon characters, school lesson plans and a storybook. The latter was guided by a resource development model. Users of the resources were surveyed to ascertain the useability, alignment with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, cross‐curricular learnings and cultural relevance. Respondents across regional/remote and urban locations completed a lesson plan and food character (clipart) survey (N = 51) and storybook survey (N = 14). Respondents advised the resources were relevant, enjoyable, engaging and culturally appropriate for all students regardless of Aboriginality. The resources provided learning opportunities for all children to enhance knowledge about Aboriginal culture and bush foods. Independent evaluation has further indicated the translation of messaging into student's knowledge and learning. Key enablers to the success of the resource included free online access, the highly engaging nature of the resources and adaptability to be implemented across a number of Aboriginal language groups in WA. Ensuring visual representation of healthy choices was fundamental to reinforcing nutrition messaging. Superhero Foods resources are a positive and important inclusion in the health promotion toolbox for Aboriginal children. Superhero Foods are novel nutrition education resources depicting Aboriginal foods and Aboriginal children. These food literacy resources will engage children's understanding of Aboriginal culture, improve food literacy and strengthen equitable access for regional and remote communities.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-04-2022
DOI: 10.3390/NU14091778
Abstract: Culinary education programs are generally designed to improve participants’ food and cooking skills, with or without consideration to influencing diet quality or health. No published methods exist to guide food and cooking skills’ content priorities within culinary education programs that target improved diet quality and health. To address this gap, an international team of cooking and nutrition education experts developed the Cooking Education (Cook-EdTM) matrix. International food-based dietary guidelines were reviewed to determine common food groups. A six-section matrix was drafted including skill focus points for: (1) Kitchen safety, (2) Food safety, (3) General food skills, (4) Food group specific food skills, (5) General cooking skills, (6) Food group specific cooking skills. A modified e-Delphi method with three consultation rounds was used to reach consensus on the Cook-EdTM matrix structure, skill focus points included, and their order. The final Cook-EdTM matrix includes 117 skill focus points. The matrix guides program providers in selecting the most suitable skills to consider for their programs to improve dietary and health outcomes, while considering available resources, participant needs, and sustainable nutrition principles. Users can adapt the Cook-EdTM matrix to regional food-based dietary guidelines and food cultures.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AJO.12837
Abstract: In the 2009 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking, a guideline specific to lactating women was included. For the first time the effect of alcohol at this important developmental stage was nationally and internationally acknowledged. To determine the degree to which maternal health practitioners adopted an Australian national policy guideline (Guideline 4B) on alcohol and breastfeeding into their everyday health practice and the factors associated with adoption. A convenience s le of participants completed an online survey based on the Nursing Practice Questionnaire (NPQ) to elicit measures of knowledge, awareness and practice implementation. In total, 240 maternal health practitioners completed the online survey. All statistical analyses clearly indicated a higher adoption of Guideline 4B by the child health nurses, midwives and general practitioners (GPs) than was the case for paediatricians and obstetricians. A mean adoption score (range 0-4) indicative of 'some' practice implementation of 3.13, 3.04 and 2.73 was obtained by child health nurses, midwives and GPs, respectively. Obstetricians and paediatricians scored a mean of 2.0, indicating they remain to be 'persuaded about the practice' of incorporating discussions around alcohol and breastfeeding into their practice. Despite the existence of a national alcohol guideline for breastfeeding women, maternal health practitioners are not incorporating this advice into their everyday practice with lactating women. Opportunities exist for all maternal practitioners along the reproductive continuum to protect long-term breastfeeding duration using an evidence-based harm minimisation approach to alcohol consumption.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 20-06-2019
DOI: 10.2196/12157
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 12-12-2020
Abstract: espite the recognized health and economic benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, few Australian infants are exclusively breastfed beyond 5 months of age. Social support for breastfeeding, in particular the support of an infant’s father, has been identified as a crucial element for successful breastfeeding. he objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of various father-focused breastfeeding interventions in terms of key infant feeding outcomes. he study was a 4-arm, factorial, randomized controlled trial conducted in Perth, Australia. The trial arms included a control group and 3 interventions, consisting of a face-to-face father-focused antenatal breastfeeding class facilitated by a male peer facilitator Milk Man, a breastfeeding smartphone app designed specifically for fathers and a combination of both interventions. Expecting couples were recruited from hospital-based antenatal classes and block randomized to 1 of the 4 arms. Each partner completed surveys at recruitment and at 6 weeks and 26 weeks postpartum. Primary outcomes were duration of exclusive and any breastfeeding. Secondary outcomes included age of introduction of formula and complementary foods, maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, and partner postpartum support. total of 1426 couples were recruited from public (443/1426, 31.1%) and private (983/1426, 68.9%) hospitals. Of these, 76.6% (1092/1426) of fathers completed the baseline questionnaire, 58.6% (836/1426) completed the 6-week follow-up questionnaire, and 49.2% (702/1426) completed the 26-week follow-up questionnaire. The average age of fathers who completed the baseline questionnaire was 33.6 (SD 5.2) years the majority were born in Australia (76.4%) and had attended university (61.8%). There were no significant differences between the control and any of the intervention groups in any of the infant feeding outcomes or level of breastfeeding self-efficacy and postpartum partner support reported by mothers. his study did not demonstrate that any intervention was superior to another or that any intervention was inferior to the standard care delivered in routine antenatal classes. Further studies are needed to test the effectiveness of these interventions in more socioeconomically erse populations that are likely to benefit most from additional partner supports. ustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000605695 www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12614000605695 R2-10.1186/s12884-015-0601-5
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2017-019605
Abstract: To estimate the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) among young people in youth detention in Australia. Neurodevelopmental impairments due to FASD can predispose young people to engagement with the law. Canadian studies identified FASD in 11%–23% of young people in corrective services, but there are no data for Australia. Multidisciplinary assessment of all young people aged 10–17 years 11 months and sentenced to detention in the only youth detention centre in Western Australia, from May 2015 to December 2016. FASD was diagnosed according to the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of FASD. 99 young people completed a full assessment (88% of those consented 60% of the 166 approached to participate) 93% were male and 74% were Aboriginal. 88 young people (89%) had at least one domain of severe neurodevelopmental impairment, and 36 were diagnosed with FASD, a prevalence of 36% (95% CI 27% to 46%). This study, in a representative s le of young people in detention in Western Australia, has documented a high prevalence of FASD and severe neurodevelopmental impairment, the majority of which had not been previously identified. These findings highlight the vulnerability of young people, particularly Aboriginal youth, within the justice system and their significant need for improved diagnosis to identify their strengths and difficulties, and to guide and improve their rehabilitation.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 18-06-2018
DOI: 10.2196/MHEALTH.9999
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-06-2023
DOI: 10.1186/S40795-023-00719-8
Abstract: Sufficient, safe and nutritious food is unattainable for many people experiencing severe food insecurity, putting them at dietary risk. Food banks, a growing part of the charitable food system (CFS), are the main source of food relief in developed countries. Donations of surplus, unsalable food from supermarkets, producers and manufacturers is the main source of the food supply, and this can be unpredictable, insufficient and inappropriate. The universal performance indicator of food-banking success is a weight-based measure, complemented by various initiatives to track the nutritional quality of food provided. There is currently no method that assesses the dietary risk of donated food related to nutrition and food safety. This protocol describes a method developed to identify and assess the dietary risk of donated food at an Australian food bank including the type, amount, nutrition quality, and food safety. An audit of all food donated to a food bank servicing one Australian state was conducted over five consecutive days in May 2022. The audit process used a mobile device to take photographs of all incoming deliveries to the food bank. The images were manually annotated to document the type of food, product information (brand and product name, variety), the donor’s name, weight (kilograms), and date-marking details. Data was extracted from the photographs and assessed against pre-determined dietary risk criterion for food safety (date marking, damaged packaging, visible food spoilage) and nutrition quality according to the principles of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, and the NOVA classification of level of processing. Fifteen hundred images were required to assess the dietary risk of 86,050 kg of donated food. There were 72 separate donations, largely from supermarkets and food manufacturers. Data analysis will enable identification of dietary risk, particularly for nutrition quality and food safety. This is important given the absence of food regulation for CFS donations, and the vulnerability of the client group. This protocol highlights the need for more transparency and accountability from food donors, about the food they donate.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 27-06-2016
DOI: 10.2196/MHEALTH.5652
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 12-04-2021
DOI: 10.2196/24579
Abstract: Despite the recognized health and economic benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, few Australian infants are exclusively breastfed beyond 5 months of age. Social support for breastfeeding, in particular the support of an infant’s father, has been identified as a crucial element for successful breastfeeding. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of various father-focused breastfeeding interventions in terms of key infant feeding outcomes. The study was a 4-arm, factorial, randomized controlled trial conducted in Perth, Australia. The trial arms included a control group and 3 interventions, consisting of a face-to-face father-focused antenatal breastfeeding class facilitated by a male peer facilitator Milk Man, a breastfeeding smartphone app designed specifically for fathers and a combination of both interventions. Expecting couples were recruited from hospital-based antenatal classes and block randomized to 1 of the 4 arms. Each partner completed surveys at recruitment and at 6 weeks and 26 weeks postpartum. Primary outcomes were duration of exclusive and any breastfeeding. Secondary outcomes included age of introduction of formula and complementary foods, maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, and partner postpartum support. A total of 1426 couples were recruited from public (443/1426, 31.1%) and private (983/1426, 68.9%) hospitals. Of these, 76.6% (1092/1426) of fathers completed the baseline questionnaire, 58.6% (836/1426) completed the 6-week follow-up questionnaire, and 49.2% (702/1426) completed the 26-week follow-up questionnaire. The average age of fathers who completed the baseline questionnaire was 33.6 (SD 5.2) years the majority were born in Australia (76.4%) and had attended university (61.8%). There were no significant differences between the control and any of the intervention groups in any of the infant feeding outcomes or level of breastfeeding self-efficacy and postpartum partner support reported by mothers. This study did not demonstrate that any intervention was superior to another or that any intervention was inferior to the standard care delivered in routine antenatal classes. Further studies are needed to test the effectiveness of these interventions in more socioeconomically erse populations that are likely to benefit most from additional partner supports. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000605695 www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12614000605695 RR2-10.1186/s12884-015-0601-5
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 06-2016
No related grants have been discovered for Roslyn Giglia.