title: A qualitative study of the barriers and enablers to fertility-awareness education in general practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand the barriers and enablers to fertility-awareness education in general practice.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Most women along with their primary care practitioners - general practitioners and practice nurses - believe that women should be educated about fertility-awareness when first reporting trouble conceiving. To date, no in-depth study has examined the enablers and challenges of this type of education in general practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive exploratory qualitative study using deductive content analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  General practitioners (N = 11) and practice nurses (N = 20) were recruited from general practices in three socioculturally diverse areas in Victoria, Australia. Data were collected through semistructured interviews based on the 12 domains of a theoretical behaviour change framework from April-August 2012. The participants' responses were organized into themes that fall under the framework domains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The biggest barriers to fertility-awareness education in general practice were short consultations and time constraints faced by general practitioners together with a lack of patient educational materials and remuneration to support its delivery. The biggest enablers were a greater use of nurses trained in fertility-awareness in a collaborative team care arrangement with general practitioners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has identified several important barriers and enablers to fertility-awareness education in general practice. Translation into practice of our findings is imperative as the first step in establishing a primary care model in fertility-awareness. This would fill an important gap in the primary care of infertile women and build capacity in general practice to reduce infertility through women's enhanced fertility knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Kerry D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research and Action in Public Health, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Rhian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mazza
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014739:Victoria
keywords: family planning; fertility-awareness; general practice; infertility; midwifery; nursing; primary care