Recent research bulletins from the drug and alcohol Bank:
Alcohol brief interventions: doing without the Doctor
It works when the doctor does it, but what if the nurse or other primary care staff briefly counsel risky drinking patients? According to this synthesis of the research, it still works - maybe not as well, but perhaps more patients can be reached more cheaply. Modest impacts and imperfect methodologies mean it remains an open question whether meaningful drinking reductions would be found in usual practice.
Even dependent drinkers respond well to alcohol brief interventions
In the north of England just a few (and often just one) counselling sessions by a specialist alcohol nurse had a remarkable impact on drinkers seeking medical care at an accident and emergency department. What made it remarkable was the fact that these patients were not just heavy drinkers, but dependent and drinking as much as patients at alcohol clinics.
Brief interventions, also know as 'Identification and Brief Advice' (IBA) are a key part of alcohol harm reduction approaches as identified in NICE alcohol prevention guidance. However the difference between simple IBA, extended brief interventions and brief treatment approaches has been much debated, as explored in the briefing 'Clarifying brief interventions'.
See here for a recent briefing paper on mainstreaming brief interventions, or here for resources, e-learning or the INEBRIA webpage.
A forthcoming SIPS conference will release the results of the largest brief intervention pilot study conducted in the UK in March next year.
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