Alcohol Policy UK

Evaluation and review of Tier 4 Alcohol Services in Cumbria and Lancashire

The Liverpool John Moore's University have published a 'Review and evaluation of current tier 4 alcohol treatment services in Cumbria and Lancashire' [pdf].

The review determined alcohol service provision in the areas within Cumbria and Lancashire using local and national evidence, including National Treatment Agency (NTA) data. The first NTA alcohol specific report of the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) was released earlier this year.

NICE, which recently released it alcohol prevention guidance, is shortly expected to release its consultation draft on alcohol treatment, entitled 'Alcohol use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management of harmful drinking and alcohol dependence'. NICE guidance on the management of physical alcohol problems is available.

Upcoming events: alcohol workforce and BME

Developing the alcohol workforce

Next week an event to explore the needs of specialist alcohol practitioners and those who could deliver Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) takes place in London on the 15th June.

'Reducing Harm from Alcohol – National Resources for Local Workforce and Skills Development Conference' - download the event flyer [pdf].

Places are still available - see here for details on how to book. 

BME national alcohol workshop

Places are also available for a national workshop on the 6th July to examine Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and alcohol-realted harm. The Joeseph Rowntree Foundation and Middlesex University will both be launching reports following work on BME alcohol issues.

See here for further details and to book places.

'Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity' second edition published

A second edition of 'Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity' has been published. According to an outline on the Alcohol Drugs and Development (ADD) site:

'The Second Edition of 'Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity' has the same scope as the version from 2003; a guide to how to understand alcohol-related harm and how such harm most effectively can be prevented by policy interventions. The authors describe the conceptual basis for a rational alcohol policy and present new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of alcohol misuse.

A summary paper based on the original publication is available here.

Last  year the World Health Organization published the Handbook for action to reduce alcohol related harm. The handbook is aimed at policy makers to help them 'review, adjust or strengthen their alcohol action plans and explores ten areas for action'. WHO also released the supporting Evidence for the effectiveness and cost–effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm.

NICE alcohol prevention guidance released

'Alcohol-use disorders: preventing the development of hazardous and harmful drinking' has been released today. The guidance, produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), is for government, industry and commerce, the NHS and all those whose actions affect the population’s attitude to – and use of – alcohol.

Download the report here or via the NICE summary page. 

The document makes a number of recommendations including strong calls for pricing measures and changes in how alcohol is marketed. See here for BBC coverage. You can access a podcast to hear Professor Eileen Kaner and Professor Anne Ludbrook discuss the guidance, or read Alcohol Concern's press release.

Further NICE guidance on alcohol can be found here.

'Clarifying brief interventions': Academy briefing paper released

NOTE: A revised brieifing Clarifying alcohol brief interventions: 2013 update [pdf] has sinnce been released by the Alcohol Academy. It updates the below 2010 briefing to account for new developments in the field and key issues relating to the national implementation effort.

A briefing paper'Clarifying brief interventions' [pdf]has been released. The paper aims to clarify key issues relating to the delivery of brief interventions and related practice, particularly distinctions in the types of interventions and their key characteristics.

The paper follows the AERC Alcohol Academy symposium 'Brief interventions: commissioning and delivery issues' - see here for presentations from the day. The seminar aimed to explore challenges in the delivery of brief interventions and responses for improving alcohol intervention approaches.

Findings from the online brief interventions survey conducted to inform the event are available in the report 'Results from the survey ‘Brief interventions (IBA): commissioning and delivery issues’  - download here[pdf]

The Academy would like to thank the Joint Action Group (JAG) for alcohol in London for supporting the event, all attendees and speakers for their contributions and particularly Professor Nick Heather and Don Lavoie for their support and input into the paper.