Alcohol Awareness Week (AAW) 2017 has now kicked off, aiming to prompt conversations about the impact of alcohol and this year 'to help break the cycle of silence and stigma that is all too often experienced by families'.
The week coincides with notice from the Supreme Court that the final verdict on Scotland's long running Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) battle will be announced at 9.45 on Wednesday morning (watch it live here). [EDIT: see here for the outcome report]
Alcohol Concern, who recently merged with Alcohol Research UK, have partnered with Adfam, a charity that supports families affected by drugs and alcohol to promote AAW and has released a series of resources on the alcohol and families theme to support activity from 13 - 19 November including:
-
Guide to family support services
- Alcohol stats
- Setting up a support group
- Alcohol and parenting
- Parents who drink too much
- Alcohol-related bereavement
- Challenging the stigma around alcohol
- Families affected by harmful drinking (for practitioners)
- How much should I be drinking?
- I think my parent drinks too much
Case studies
- Local service case study (Orbit)
- Local service case study (SIAS)
- Local service case study (SSSFT)
- Personal case study (Jo)
- Personal case study (Amy-Beth)
Alcohol Concern say over 800 local authorities, charities and services will be taking part in activities including social media such as using the Twitter #AAW2017 hashtag. Updates of a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm will be made via Twitter as Parliamentarians call for more services for families affected by alcohol use at a time when cuts to drug and alcohol budgets are being made, potentially explaining the decline in treatment numbers.
Earlier this year the IAS released a report highlighting that negative impacts from parental drinking can start at even moderate levels, though harms increased in line with consumption. Previously a manifesto for action to support 'Children of Alcoholics' (COAs) called upon the Government to take ten key actions including a targeted national strategy, local funding to support alcohol services, and a plan to change attitudes and action on price and availability. It was recently estimated that there are 207,617 children thought to live with an adult with dependence.
In 2014 a report from the Children's Commissioner looked at the issue of children affected by parental alcohol misuse and the help available to them, calling for further action by services and local authorities. An Alcohol Hidden Harm Toolkit was also released to support managers, commissioners and practitioners involved in designing, assessing or improving services for children and families. Many will be hoping AAW 2017 helps not only raise awareness of the issue, but also prompts further attention and resources for prevention and support... and that MUP is finally given the green light.
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