Go The Whole 9
This spring the St. Louis Arc partnered with Webster University students to create a public service announcement for the Go the Whole 9 campaign. Go the Whole 9 is an awareness campaign funded through the Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the United Way to educate people about the effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The Arc is committed to providing education about fetal alcohol exposure. While most developmental disabilities are caused by genetics, alcohol use during pregnancy remains a leading preventable cause of differences in brain development, including intellectual disabilities, and birth defects. The Go the Whole 9 program provides educational tool kits to educators; resources and referrals for families; and an interactive booth and presentation for community and school events. Whilst it’s so important that more awareness is raised about the dangers of drinking alcohol and being pregnant, it’s also important that people understand the long-term impacts of consuming too much alcohol. If anyone consumes too much alcohol, they can begin slowing down the functions of their vital organs, such as the liver. The liver normally breaks down alcohol, however, this function can be compromised if an individual consumes too much alcohol. To make sure your liver is working healthily, it’s important to keep an eye out for any liver congestion symptoms. This could be a sign of a liver that isn’t functioning properly. One way of fixing this is by detoxing your liver. Too much alcohol can be dangerous, so it’s important to monitor the amount of alcohol you’re consuming. For those that are pregnant, drinking alcoholic beverages can be even more dangerous, putting yourself and the baby at risk. You can learn more about tackling alcoholism and other alcohol-related issues by taking a look at some of the helpful articles on the Enterhealth website. Rehabilitation for people living with alcohol abuse issues has come a long way in recent years and therefore it is important to understand the most common treatment options.
A Win Win
Staff at the Arc reached out to Webster professor Aaron Aubuchon to discuss how to get the message of ‘not a single drop’ out to college students. Professor Aubuchon teaches a course entitled Production House through the university’s School of Communications. Production House gives students the chance to work on real projects in the community, simulating the work they would do working in a video production house after graduation. Students work as a crew to produce a project for a non-profit agency; these projects have included PSA’s, event coverage, agency videos, and more. Students meet with representatives from the agency to discuss the goals and needs of the project and communicate throughout the semester. The final product is a video that the community agency can use for events or marketing purposes.
“Production House provided the perfect opportunity to engage young adults in creating a targeted means of distribution to this important demographic,” said Julia Schaffner, Program Coordinator. “We were thrilled with feedback from a pilot group of young adults who unanimously agreed that as a result of watching the video they are more likely to stop using alcohol if they might be pregnant or inform a partner, friend, family member who might be pregnant.” This is great news, it’s so important that people do stop drinking if they’re pregnant. For college students, it can be difficult to stop drinking when there are regular parties and drinking events for students to attend. When attending these parties, students have been known to purchase IDs from fake id god to ensure they can get into these parties. However, pregnant students now understand that they need to stop using their ID and eliminate alcohol from their lives if they think they might be pregnant.
“We are very grateful to the hard-working Webster University Production House student team that worked on this project!”
Thank you Webster University students!
Download fact sheets, toolkits, make the pledge, or to schedule a community presentation, through the Go the Whole 9 website.