Findings bulletins: UK alcohol policies reviewed, hospital and sexual health intervention challenges

Recent bulletins from the drug and alcohol bank:

Which UK nation wins on evidence-based alcohol policy?

Devolution has seen alcohol policy diverging widely between UK nations. According to this independent assessment, Scotland leads the way with policies most closely aligned to evidence-based recommendations. Find out why the UK government as a whole and its direct responsibility England end up bottom of the league.

Problem drinking hospital patients reject treatment

This UK study tested whether a healthy living intervention would be more acceptable and effective than a specific alcohol intervention among problem drinking patients identified by screening, but arguably the main lesson was that when very heavy drinkers are not looking for treatment, it’s hard to persuade them to give it a try, even when it consists of just four half-hour sessions.

Why so little impact from brief alcohol advice in London sexual health clinics?

After similarly negative results in other settings, a major study in London did not find clinically important reductions in drinking among excessive drinkers offered a brief intervention while attending sexual health clinics, nor did intervention seem a cost-effective use of health service resources. Are real-world brief alcohol interventions largely ineffective, or is it just that their impacts have yet to be revealed by research?

Also added to the Effectiveness Bank:

British public think TV alcohol ads breach advertising code

Psychotherapy betters usual treatment for personality disordered problem drinkers

See here for the previously released Findings alcohol treatment matrix, detailing a wide range of intervention and treatment evidence and guidance analysis.