Problem

The first 2000 days of life from conception to five years is a critical period shaping cognitive, physical, and social development. Family-focused interventions during pregnancy, postpartum, and early childhood can produce lifelong health benefits and promote more equitable outcomes.

The Infant Feeding, Active Play and Nutrition (INFANT) Program, developed by Deakin University, supports families with feeding, active play and nutrition for infants and young children. Since 2021, INFANT has been implemented across Victoria; however, achieving reach and sustainability among priority populations remains a challenge.

What we did

In partnership with the North Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU), Your Community Health explored perspectives of service providers and predominantly First Nations, Arabic- and Mandarin-speaking families on INFANT. Consultations focused on Darebin, a rapidly growing, diverse area where nearly 45% of households speak two or more languages and Aboriginal births are among the highest in the NEPHU catchment. Guided by principles of intersectionality, equity and co-design, and informed by cultural adaptation frameworks, consultations examined models of delivery, cultural adaptability and implementation sustainability.

Results

The project identified key barriers and enablers to participation. Barriers included transport, cost, scheduling, language and mistrust of mainstream services, particularly among First Nations families experiencing ongoing impacts of colonisation. Enablers centred on trust, relationships, and culturally safe, community-led spaces and resources. Families valued informal, peer-based learning, storytelling, and flexible, co-located program delivery.

Recommendations include creating culturally safe, community-led models, co-designing simplified resources beyond translation, and embedding initiatives into existing programs for practical, ongoing delivery.

Lessons

By centring community voice, culture and connection, the project findings highlight opportunities to strengthen the INFANT Program for priority populations. This includes extending delivery beyond traditional health settings and embedding community-led, culturally safe prevention approaches for sustained equitable access for all families. These findings may also inform policy and practice for similar programs.

Introduction: Sport participation has been identified as a likely protective factor against many adverse health behaviours and outcomes as it can provide structure, foster self-esteem, and connect young people with positive adult role models. Realising an opportunity for intervention, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF), piloted The Stronger Through Sport (STS) program which aimed to reduce anti-social behaviours among vulnerable young Australians aged 14-20 at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. The program sought to overcome common barriers to participation, including financial burdens, and transport availability and access. STS also aimed to promote partnerships between youth support services and local sporting clubs and built the capacity clubs by training designated club leaders to mentor and support at-risk youth.
The program was piloted between October 2022 to April 2024 in four regions across Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia.
Methods: Survey data from young people, club leaders, club representatives and youth support services was combined with recruitment and attendance data to inform the programs evaluation.
Results: Recruitment data indicated that STS successfully promoted youth participation and fostered ongoing connections to sporting clubs. Clubs valued the support provided by the program, particularly the training provided for club leaders. Of youth support services, most (85%, n= 11) reported a decline in anti-social behaviour amongst young people. The pilot program’s short duration was identified as a key challenge as it prevented the collection and assessment of important long-term outcomes such as sustained reductions in anti-social behaviour.
Conclusion: As demonstrated by the evaluation findings, the STS pilot program has the potential to enhance young people’s participation in sports, promoting social inclusion, reducing youth crime, and build sporting clubs capacity to support vulnerable youth. Future evaluations are recommended to determine the program’s long-term impact and to ensure its continued reach and sustainability within the community.

Introduction
For maximum public health impact, evidence-based health promotion programs must be scaled up and reach those most in need. Achieving equitable implementation during scale up can be a challenge, but failure to do so can exacerbate existing health inequalities. This study describes the equitable reach of INFANT, an evidence-based early life nutrition and movement behaviour program when implemented at scale.

Methods
INFANT, consisting of a free app and practitioner led group sessions offered to caregivers from birth, was scaled up across Victoria, Australia from 2021. Practitioner training was tracked via records and caregiver participation measured through an app survey. Program reach was estimated per 1000 births in each local government area (LGA). Participant sociodemographic characteristics were compared to Victorian census data for women of reproductive age. Logistic regression models identified factors associated with group enrolment/attendance.

Results
By November 2024, INFANT groups were offered in 48 (61%) Victorian LGAs and the app was used in 78 (99%) reaching 11,358 caregivers. LGAs with higher rates of practitioners trained achieved better program reach. Compared to Victorian women of reproductive age, a higher proportion of INFANT participants were university educated (72.8% vs 52.8%), English speaking (86.6% vs 72.4%), from more advantaged communities (30.4% vs 20.0%) and outside major cities (inner regional: 20.3% vs 14.7%; outer regional: 6.8% vs 2.8%). The proportion of First Nations and Australian-born participants was similar to the broader population. In LGAs offering both program components, group enrolment/attendance was higher among first-time parents, those practicing mixed feeding, living in disadvantaged communities and outside major cities.

Conclusions: This is the first study to assess the equitable reach of an early life health promotion program at scale.
INFANT achieved high reach, with group sessions reaching more disadvantaged parents. Efforts continue to expand reach for priority groups.

Introduction: Establishing positive health behaviours in early life is critical and sets the foundation for lifelong health and wellbeing. INFANT is an evidence-based preventive health program supporting parents with infant feeding and active play. Trained early-years professionals deliver group sessions at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of infant age, with session content reinforced by a mobile phone app. At-scale delivery across Victoria, Australia, commenced in 2021, with varying rates of sustained delivery. This study explored the perspectives of INFANT-trained program coordinators and facilitators, focusing on the use of implementation strategies within their organisations to support at-scale delivery of INFANT across Victoria.

Methods: A multi-site, qualitative exploratory study was conducted between 2022 and 2024. Coordinators and facilitators were interviewed at 12 months (n=15) and 24 months (n=8) post-completion of the INFANT training. Thematic analysis was informed by the Implementation Strategies Applied in Communities (ISAC) compilation to identify barriers and enablers to scale up.

Results: At the time of this study, 34 of 79 Victorian local government areas were implementing INFANT, with interviewees representative of 15 local government areas. Fourteen implementation strategies were identified. Five themes were generated: (1) Leveraging partnerships, funding, and community connections; (2) Providing structured guidance and resources; (3) Adapting and tailoring INFANT to meet parents’ needs and contexts; (4) Equipping and empowering facilitators to deliver INFANT; and (5) Monitoring delivery through pragmatic evaluation and technology.

Conclusion: While implementation strategies worked together to support sustained delivery of INFANT, most relied on individual and organisational efforts that were frequently constrained by inconsistent and inadequate funding and limited workforce capacity. Our study highlights the need for additional systems-level support to optimise organisational implementation if sustained, at-scale implementation of the INFANT program is to be realised.

Introduction
Despite the importance of nutrition and movement behaviours in early life for promoting healthy growth, development and lifelong health, very few evidence-based interventions have been implemented at scale, with even fewer evaluated at scale. This study presents caregiver perspectives on participating in INFANT, an evidence-based early life nutrition and movement behaviour intervention being scaled up across Victoria since 2021.

Methods
The INFANT program consists of four group sessions for families delivered by trained early years professionals across the first year of life, complemented with a smartphone app. First-time parents and carergivers downloading the app were invited to participate in evaluation surveys when infants were 12 and 18 months of age. Participants were asked about their experiences of participating in the program, what they liked, didn’t like and what could be improved.

Results
Of the 2909 eligible parents, 1690(58%) completed the 12- or 18-month survey; 453 attended at least one INFANT session and were asked the process evaluation questions. Most agreed or strongly agreed that sessions were useful and relevant (96%), engaging (92%), enjoyable (92%), increased their confidence with feeding and play (86%), increased knowledge about local services (75%) and connections with other parents (56%) and they would recommend to others (91%). Parents valued access to credible, practical and timely information, and the social connection and peer support provided by group sessions. Smaller age-specific, interactive, face-to-face group sessions were preferred. Better promotion, reminders and follow up information could enhance session accessibility and engagement.

Conclusion
The INFANT program has been well received by caregivers. Opportunities to enhance accessibility and engagement with group sessions will be integrated into future training of early years professional delivering the program.

Background
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their families in Ghana face significant barriers to accessing health and support services. Most studies emphasize caregivers’ experiences, while structural and systemic barriers remain underexplored. This study integrates voices of caregivers and healthcare professionals to better document and understand these barriers and to identify effective solutions.
Methods
Guided by critical feminist, social justice, and anti-colonial frameworks, the study employed a qualitative design combining crystallization and critical narrative inquiry to capture everyday experiences within wider cultural and social contexts. Participants were recruited using purposeful maximum variation and snowball sampling. A total of 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 caregivers (16 women and 4 men) and 17 clinicians, including physiotherapists, pediatricians, nutritionists, therapists, psychologists, and nurses, among others.
Findings
Caregivers described severe financial and emotional strain, the high cost of healthcare and assistive devices, loss of income, uncoordinated services, long hospital wait times, and inaccessible transport. Clinicians echoed these concerns and highlighted fragmented care, shortages of specialists, inexperienced providers, and poor working conditions. They noted that limited incentives drive skilled professionals abroad, while the absence of sponsored training programs restricts the growth of essential subspecialties.
Lessons Learned and Ways Forward
Bringing together voices of caregivers and clinicians revealed overlapping barriers and exposed deep structural and systemic gaps. A key lesson is that system-level changes are as critical as individual support. Therefore, stronger policy commitment, coordinated health and social services, and sustainable investment in human resources are urgently needed.
Recommendations and Conclusion
The study recommends sponsoring specialized training programs, expanding rural services, consolidating care within district hospitals, and providing structured financial support for families. It also calls for childcare centres and integrated mental health services to reduce caregiver burden. Ultimately, addressing barriers to CP care requires coordinated policies, better working conditions for health professionals, and inclusive, family-centred services. Strengthening both health and social systems will create more equitable, accessible, and sustainable care for children with CP and their families in Ghana.

Problem
Progress in alcohol control at global, national or local levels to reduce alcohol-related harms is challenging, especially as the alcohol industry may obstruct national alcohol policy efforts. Alcohol control measures are often overlooked in FASD prevention despite their critical role in complementing education and healthcare efforts. This research explored global and Australian policies on the prevention of alcohol harms in pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This neurodevelopmental disability results from prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Methods
A structured Google internet search identified international and Australian policies, plans, inquiry reports, or impact statements published between January 2012 and April 2025 by international bodies, professional associations, Australian governments or peer-reviewed articles. We undertook deductive thematic analysis and appraised quality using an assessment tool.

Results
Thirty-four documents were identified, including four global, 21 Australian, and nine from Australian states or territories. The most prevalent themes were treatment and support
(67.6%), stigma (67.6%), health literacy (64.7%), training (64.7%), FASD services (61.8%), and alcohol control (61.8%). Most documents were rated as having high or medium quality. Quality assessments revealed strengths in policy scope and stakeholder engagement, but gaps in resourcing and implementation guidance.

Lessons
Effective prevention of alcohol harms in pregnancy and FASD requires comprehensive policies that include alcohol control, health literacy, screening, and multisectoral collaboration. The policy focus on preventing alcohol-related harms in pregnancy and FASD has broadened to include alcohol control, with public support for tighter alcohol regulation. While national and international policies increasingly reflect this approach, gaps remain at the jurisdictional level, highlighting areas for improvement. Overall, the findings suggest the need for comprehensive, well-resourced, and actionable policies to effectively prevent alcohol-related harms in pregnancy and FASD.