Public Health England (PHE) has jointly launched a new campaign with the industry funded alcohol education charity Drinkaware to promote 'Drink Free Days'.
According to PHE, the campaign 'will be encouraging middle-aged drinkers to use the tactic of taking more days off from drinking as a way of reducing their health risks from alcohol.' It states evidence suggests 'that simple and easy ways of helping people to change their behaviour are the most effective, which is why Drinkaware and PHE have chosen to focus on Drink Free Days'.
In addition to an online consumption and feedback resource at www.drinkfreedays.co.uk, an app, national radio and digital advertising including #DrinkFreeDays are being utilised to engage its target group.
Drink Free Days, an effective message?
However, the campaign will cause disquiet amongst certain groups within the wider public health and academic sphere. Firstly, Drinkaware's existence itself has continued to be opposed by some as an alcohol industry funded body focusing on education and awareness activities. In response, Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) Chair Prof Sir Ian Gilmore has said they 'have serious concerns about this campaign and itself and the fact that it represents the beginning of a relationship between the alcohol industry and Public Health England.' Drinkaware state they are independent from the alcohol industry and their work is 'overseen by an independent Board of trustees' whilst in a PHE blog Duncan Selbie defended the reasons for the partnership.
A second issue likely to be subject to further debate is the nature of the campaign itself and the question of how promoting drink free days may be received by different groups of drinkers. PHE state the Drink Free days concept 'resonated strongly with people and was seen as clear to follow, positive and achievable', but others may question how the message will be interpreted. For example whether at-risk or harmful drinkers already having drink free days may consider this as a reason not to moderate their overall consumption, and whether the common interpretation of two drink free days may lead to some considering they can have fewer than they currently do. Others have suggested PHE's launch of the campaign implies changing drinking is particularly difficult, which if widely read as such could potentially be counter-productive given the importance of self-efficacy in successful behaviour change.
Notably others have publicly backed the campaign, including the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), whose Chief Exec has said the its 'a welcome and easily understandable way of starting to take control of alcohol intake' and that 'setting a target of a certain number of drink-free days is a simple and achievable way of cutting down and improving health and wellbeing.' As reported in the Guardian, Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation, also backed the campaign's message as a good way to help people “break the habit” of drinking too much.
Duncan Selbie's PHE blog states the 'early successes' with the food industry to reduce sugar means this 'is the approach we are going to take with the alcohol industry and PHE has a 'strong track record of working with industry partners to encourage healthier lifestyles at a population level'. The campaign may well provoke fiercer debates about the role and delivery of education and awareness campaigns in the context of broader alcohol policy. PHE state both themselves and Drinkaware will 'separately undertake full independent evaluations and peer review processes' though by the time the results are in, a new national alcohol strategy is already expected to be in place.
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