RESEARCH REPORT PLATFORM PRESENTATION

AN EVALUATION OF AN EXERCISE & PREGNANCY HELPLINE. Alleyne J^1,2, Farrer C^1,2, Cruz L^1,2, Robinson H¹, Weind K¹; ¹Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, ON Canada. ²University of Toronto

PURPOSE: A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the perceived usefulness of the information provided by trained health care professionals given through an existing Exercise and Pregnancy Telephone Helpline. The purpose of the helpline is to disseminate general exercise and pregnancy guidelines to pregnant and pre-pregnant women who call requesting information. RELEVANCE: This evaluation of an innovative care delivery model will result in enhanced quality of care. The unique needs of pregnant women are addressed by this telephone helpline service that empowers women to lead an active lifestyle during pregnancy. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant and pre-pregnant women who had questions related to exercise during pregnancy were the target population for this study. This included those who were regular exercisers prior to pregnancy and those who wanted to begin an exercise routine at the time of pregnancy. METHODS: Twelve consecutive, English speaking callers to the helpline who agreed to participate in the study were sent a survey one month following the initial phone call and exercise prescription. The survey asked about the perceived usefulness of written materials, the verbal information and the in-person consultation (if performed) via rating scales. An overall review of the helpline was surveyed with rating scales. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe the baseline characteristics of the study population. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for the quantitative survey data. RESULTS: The average age of women calling the helpline was 33±3.87 years. The average length of pregnancy at the time of the call was 4.3±2.9 weeks, with 3 callers phoning pre-pregnancy. 67% of callers had not received any advice regarding exercise and pregnancy prior to calling the helpline. 83% of callers believed their knowledge had improved by phoning the telephone helpline. 100% of the callers found the information provided was useful (75% very useful, 25% somewhat useful). 75% strongly agreed with statement that the information was easy to understand and that they were given clear directives. 67% thought the information given was specific to their situation. Overall 75% of callers were very satisfied with the service and 100% would recommend the service to others. CONCLUSIONS: The results reflect that callers perceived the information provided through the Exercise and Pregnancy Helpline is relevant although it did not always fulfill the role of addressing caller’s specific situations. IMPLICATIONS: Callers to the helpline were satisfied with this model of service delivery. The Exercise and Pregnancy Telephone Helpline provides an alternative mode of education dissemination that allows for global service delivery to a target population. This is relevant as it brings clinical expertise to outreach communities in a cost effective manner. KEYWORDS: exercise and pregnancy, service delivery, women’s health. FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Practice-based Research Grant. CONTACT: chandra.farrer@wchospital.ca

ETHICS COMMITTEE: Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre Research Ethics Board