A new guidance resource for reducing alcohol-related problems in nightlife settings has been released, based on findings from a pan-European project including partners in England.
Download 'STAD in Europe: a manual for communities preventing alcohol related harm' [PDF].
The STAD (STockholm prevents Alcohol and Drug problems) project involved seven European pilots following the original Swedish community-approach to address binge drinking in nightlife settings, first developed in Stockholm in the late 1990's.
The STAD report says it is one of the few cost effective local prevention strategies targeting binge drinking, emphasising the importance of a whole-systems multi-component approach. Central to the model is that it uses both formal and informal control measures to address binge drinking in bars and clubs, but also underlines the need for community support of such measures.
The manual outlines the project and key elements in chapters on:
- STAD in Europe: background and aims
- How to start working with the STAD approach?
- Needs assessment: the first step towards a successful implementation
- Partnership formation and community mobilisation
- Training for responsible beverage service
- Control measures and enforcement
- Monitoring and evaluation
Addressing alcohol-related harms in UK settings?
Those involved in UK alcohol policy will be familiar with the central position alcohol-related crime and disorder has played in national and local government policy. In 2016 a Modern Crime Prevention Strategy appeared as the main national strategy on alcohol, focusing on local responses and partnerships within the Night Time Economy (NTE). A second round of 'Local Alcohol Action Areas (LAAAs), announced in 2017 to 'tackle alcohol-related crime and health harms and create a more diverse night-time economy', are currently underway in 33 areas, with participating stakeholders having been expected to include monitoring and evaluation plans.
For many though, the focus on local initiatives has been unsatisfactory in the context of a lack of broader action on issues such as pricing and other wider determinants, especially considering questions over the effectiveness of partnership approaches. In recent years, government policy has continued to endorse industry involvement and self-regulation in various forms. However, initiatives such as industry supported Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) have faced criticism from some academics indicating that 'their main role may be as an alcohol industry corporate social responsibility measure which is intended to limit the reputational damage associated with alcohol-related ASB'.
The rise of 'pseudo intoxicated' actors
The STAD report includes one of its case studies as the Wrexham in Wales, where a community mobilisation approach was taken to reduce alcohol sales to intoxicated persons. According to the evaluation, an increase in knowledge on the law around the service of alcohol to and the purchase of alcohol for drunks was achieved (pre: 56.3%, post: post: 64.6%), whilst test purchases indicated an increase in refusal to serve alcohol to pseudo-intoxicated guests (pre: 44%, post: 58.3%). Such findings may be viewed as broadly consistent with recent findings from the 'Drink Less Enjoy More' project that aimed to increase adherence to the law prohibiting sales to intoxicated persons in Liverpool.
The use of 'drunk' actors appears to have been increasingly popular, including several areas involved in the second round LAAAs, with STAD setting out guidance on how they may be best used. However, STAD and other comprehensive evaluations emphasise such interventions need to be delivered as part of multi-pronged activities supported by multiple stakeholders to deliver meaningful outcomes. Indeed, a 2014 report on the issue of 'sales to drunks' as one of the most under-enforced laws on the statute called for a series of actions including changes to the legislation and a range of community and national level actions.
A new national strategy?
The future for national alcohol policy seems unclear at present with indications of a new national strategy last year now appearing to have gone quiet. It may be noted that some positive indications around alcohol-related violent crime may be evident, but perhaps reflect an overall flatlining in consumption driven by falls in younger people's drinking.
Elements of national alcohol policy also exist in other areas, including pockets of funding for capital spend, children of dependent parents and a national brief intervention CQUIN. However, in the context of what is perceived by many as a lack of action on key determinants of price, availability and marketing, and the continued cuts to local public health budgets, the absence of any national alcohol strategy may be regarded as a poor reflection of commitment towards reducing alcohol harms.
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