Patricia Janssen
Wall Associate
Research areas: Maternal/fetal/newborn health; Clinical trials; Epidemiology and population health
Dr. Janssen is a perinatal epidemiologist with a clinical background in obstetrical nursing. She conducts clinical trials to evaluate methods of pregnancy and labour management and interventions for mothers at particularly high risk for experiencing adverse perinatal outcomes. The British Columbia Reproductive Care Program Perinatal Registry linked to Ministry of Health data is used to evaluate outcomes and cost of specific methods of delivering obstetrical care.
She is validating new standards for intrauterine growth stratified on sex and ethnicity, and has completed a large CIHR-funded multicentre trial of early labour management. She is currently studying risk factors for prolonged latent phase labour. Her leadership on a knowledge translation initiative named Optimal Birth BC is aimed at reducing variation in rates of caesarean section across B.C.’s health authorities. As part of Optimal Birth BC, she is conducting studies to evaluate the diagnosis and management of dystocia and adherence to clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and management of fetal distress in labour.
Primary Recipient Awards
We propose to develop a cell phone text messaging program (SmartParent) to deliver information to parents of infants (0-1year) in the Interior Health Authority. New parents will receive two SMS text messages each week appropriate for the age of their infant. The messages provide information about infant feeding and development, immunizations, screening and other aspects of health, with links to online resources. We will evaluate uptake of this program and measure effects on parent’s knowledge, confidence, and health-related parenting behaviour, using surveys and focus groups. We will also determine whether SmartParent improves infant health outcomes, for example, reducing use of emergency services and hospital admissions.
October 9, 2021 – Global News interview with Dr. Patricia Janssen link
SmartMom: Development and Evaluation of a Text Messaging Program for Prenatal Education
Principal Investigator: Dr. Patricia Janssen, School for Population and Public Health, UBC
Partner(s): Dr. Brian Galliford, Perinatal Program, Northern Health Authority
In rural areas in Canada, less than twenty percent of women attend prenatal classes. Prenatal education improves women’s ability to make informed choices about their care and increases rates of normal vaginal birth. To improve access to prenatal education in the Northern Health Authority (NHA) in BC, we propose to develop a cell phone text messaging program called SmartMom. Through text messages SmartMom will deliver up to date prenatal information to pregnant women. They will receive three SMS text messages each week about how to support a healthy pregnancy and birth and how to access further information and resources on-line and in their own community. Using surveys and focus groups, we will evaluate how many women enroll in SmartMom and access suggested resources. We will determine whether SmartMom improves health behavior and outcomes, including regular attendance at prenatal care, participation in regular exercise, healthy eating and avoidance of smoking and alcohol.
This workshop was held Nov 17-19, 2006.
In Canada, 2002, more than 200,000 acts of violent crime were reported to a subset of 94 police departments across Canada. The highest proportion of crimes involved victimization by friends or family (67%) while only 27% were committed by strangers. Victims and perpetrators are known to cross all boundaries of age, education, religion, sex, and culture. Thus the emergence of violent behaviour can not presently be predicted. Recent metanalyses of treatment programs for violent offenders have yielded only a 5% success rate. Perpetrators of violence within intimate relationships are known to have the highest rate of recidivism of all violent offenders.
Despite several decades of research on violence and evaluations of prevention and intervention programs, little is known about the factors and processes that lead to desistence from violent behaviour. The goal of the workshop is to bring together scientists from a variety of disciplines to define research questions aimed at understanding the precursors of violent behaviour within relationships. The long term goal of this research is to be able to identify, within a social situation, individuals at risk for perpetrating violent behaviour and to intervene early to prevent harm.
