Alcohol Policy UK

IAS Alert January 2017: marketing, high strength, women in the media, labelling & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: January 2017 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• TOP STORY: Alcohol marketing rules failing to protect our youth

• Community Alcohol Partnerships “likely to be ineffective”

• Alcohol marketing in Africa violates industry's own marketing codes

• Number of festive drink drivers in Scotland up

The complexity of alcohol problems and research: SHAAP & BSA 'responsible thinking' report

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) have released a report [pdf] following a British Sociological Association (BSA) symposium on ‘How do different disciplines talk about alcohol and how can we work better together?’, held in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in April 2016.

The event aimed to bring together academics representing several Universities to discuss how the issue of alcohol consumption is seen in the fields of History, Geography, Sociology, Nursing, Psychology, Epidemiology and Public Health.

Included within the report, detailed presentations include:

High impact service users & assertive outreach: improving outcomes?

In 2014 Alcohol Concern released the Blue Light Manual as part of a project to develop alternative approaches and care pathways for treatment resistant drinkers who place a burden on public services. Since then, a number of local areas have developed initiatives focusing on 'high impact' drinkers and new research on an assertive outreach trial has been released.

Last year a progress report on the Blue Light project's story so [pdf] far identified seven local areas who had commissioned pilot projects, including Sandwell, Devon, Lincolnshire and Nottingham's Alcohol Related Long Term Condition Team (LTC) as previously reported. As such the development of 'blue light' projects may be considered an emerging component of local alcohol strategies addressing the more complex end of problem drinking groups.

Findings bulletins: NICE dual diagnosis, nurse-led brief intervention, treatment figures, prevention hot topic

Recent bulletins from the drug and alcohol bank:

NICE advises against specialist ‘dual diagnosis’ services

Guidance from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on care for substance users with severe mental illness says that rather than creating specialist ‘dual diagnosis’ services, health and social care (including substance use) services should adapt to these patients and collaborate in their care, led by the mental health service.

Events & dates 2017: Alcohol Research UK, New Directions, KBS Sheffield, BSA, Drinkaware & more

Selected alcohol events and dates forthcoming in 2017:

UPDATE: further details on parliamentary APPG alcohol strategy event (31 Jan), Drinkaware national conference (24 April) & SARN Occasional seminars (various dates) - see 'Other events' below.

Alcohol Research UK 2017 conference and Early Career Symposium 

Alcohol Research UK's 2017 conference, ‘Working together: people, practice and policy in alcohol research’, takes place on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 in London. The event will explore co-production and collaboration in alcohol research and practice and consider how sharing experience can help to bridge the gaps between research and practice.  Further details here or book your  place through the Eventbrite page - early bird rate of £120 still available until 31 January.

Selected alcohol events and dates forthcoming in 2017:

UPDATE: further details on parliamentary APPG alcohol strategy event (31 Jan), Drinkaware national conference (24 April) & SARN Occasional seminars (various dates) - see 'Other events' below.

Alcohol Research UK 2017 conference and Early Career Symposium 

Alcohol Research UK's 2017 conference, ‘Working together: people, practice and policy in alcohol research’, takes place on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 in London. The event will explore co-production and collaboration in alcohol research and practice and consider how sharing experience can help to bridge the gaps between research and practice.  Further details here or book your  place through the Eventbrite page - early bird rate of £120 still available until 31 January.

Industry-led 'Community Alcohol Partnerships': what's the evidence?

Two different accounts of the effectiveness of industry supported Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) have been released in recent months.

Firstly the CAPs own evaluation 'Impact Report' [pdf] was released in November 2016 reporting significant reductions in underage drinking and associated problems, but this month a review of CAP evaluations by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found little robust evidence to support the claims.

Alcohol marketing: new evidence questions self-regulation approach

A special issue on the regulation of alcohol marketing in the journal Addiction has been published, prompting further debate over the adequacy of alcohol marketing rules.

Currently alcohol marketing regulation falls within the industry funded Portman Group’s Code of Practice of the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks, which exists to 'ensure that alcohol is promoted in a socially responsible manner and only to those aged over 18'. Overall responsibility for marketing adherence is overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) who in 2014 defended the current set-up following calls for tighter restrictions to protect children.

An overview of the key research findings and implications for policy have been covered by Alcohol Research UK, who supported the special issue in conjunction with the Institute of Alcohol Studies. It states:

News & updates December 2016: middle-age health, drink-driving, the rise of alcohol-free & the return of benchgirl

Selected media stories since the November roundup.

Public Health England (PHE) warned that eight in every 10 people aged 40 to 60 in England are overweight, drink too much or get too little exercise, reported the BBC. The PHE website and app has a quiz that gives users a health score based on their lifestyle habits by asking lifestyle questions that include drinking habits.

The Telegraph, reported on new [draft] NICE guidelines on alcohol physical problems which suggest women who drink two glasses of wine a night should be sent for scans by their GPs to check for cirrhosis. It reported critics said it was a “colossal waste of NHS resources”, but others have defended the advice.

Alcohol policy in 2016 & what's in store for 2017?

By most accounts 2016 was a turbulent year in national and world politics; in UK alcohol policy terms it was by no means uneventful either - the revised drinking guidelines for instance. Looking forward to 2017, it could prove another significant year with the end of Scotland's Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) legal saga finally in sight, but potentially a new one beginning with Brexit's impact on alcohol to be played out.

Looking back, the Institute of Alcohol Studies has produced a short 2016 timeline review based on its monthly Alcohol Alerts, and some less well known news can be found within a collection of the 'most interesting things about drugs and alcohol in 2016' from Andrew Brown (see selected alcohol slides below).

NICE guidance on dual diagnosis 2016

New NICE guidance on dual diagnosis was released in November 2016: Coexisting severe mental illness and substance misuse: community health and social care services.

The guidance and supporting tools and resources sets out how services for those dually diagnosed aged 14 and above should be improved to 'provide a range of coordinated services that address people’s wider health and social care needs, as well as other issues such as employment and housing.'