Liver Disease Risk Factors in Patients Treated for Alcohol and Drug Dependence
Conclusion As this was only a pilot study, further data collection involving a larger, representative sample of clients should be undertaken to explore these results further. References Bennett, H. et al., 2015. Assessing the Long-Term Impact of Treating Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)-Infected People Who Inject Drugs in the UK and the Relationship between Treatment Uptake and Efficacy on Future Infections. PLoS ONE, 10(5), p.e0125846. Edeghere, O. et al., 2015. Retrospective cohort study of liver transplantation in the United Kingdom between 1994 and 2010: the impact of hepatitis C infection. Public Health, 129(5), pp.509–516. ...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - November 15, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Development of the Brief Addiction Therapist Scale (BATS)
Key findings A literature review and three-round Delphi survey facilitated the development of a Brief Addiction Therapist Scale (BATS), designed to evaluate the delivery of substance use treatment in routine practice. Practitioner feedback, and validation in four clinical samples including two multi-site studies, suggests the scale has good psychometric properties and high inter-rater reliability. In initial feedback practitioners and experts have been positive, supporting its utility, ease of use and importance. Research team Dr Gillian Tober, Head of Research and Training Leeds Addiction Unit, Leeds and York Partnersh...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - October 29, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Nowcasting of population alcohol-related harms using novel Bayesian timeseries methods and synthetic controls
Conclusions This ‘proof-of-principle’ study showed that this novel modelling framework can provide accurate forecasts of temporal trends in local alcohol-related hospital admissions in England for all lower tier local authorities and may well be useful for future policy making at the local, regional and national level. Future work will include detailed assessment of the precision of these estimates, optimization of model specifications including the possibility of including additional modifiable factors, and will also explore applications to other scenarios, including non-alcohol related outcomes. (Source: Alcohol Research UK)
Source: Alcohol Research UK - October 12, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Invitation to tender – Dry January evaluation 2019
We are inviting invitations from experienced evaluation teams to assess the impact of Alcohol Concern’s Dry January campaign 2019.  Full details are available here: Dry January 2019 – Invitation to tender. Dry January was first launched by Alcohol Concern in 2013.  It has since become a high profile, widely recognised national behaviour-change campaign. It is one of the best known ‘monthly abstinence’ campaigns globally.  The primary aim of Dry January is for participants to reset their relationship with alcohol. In particular, we are looking to increase participants’ desire – and ability – to bet...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - October 7, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: James Nicholls Tags: Call for Proposals News Source Type: news

Ambitious for change? We ’re recruiting up to six new trustees
Alcohol harm affects millions of people across the UK, from the risky middle-aged drinker who knows he shouldn’t be drinking every night to the dependent drinker struggling to regain her independence, from the child growing up in a chaotic household to the family bereaved by a drink driver. But none of this is inevitable. Change can and must happen. We are the major charity formed from the merger of Alcohol Research UK and Alcohol Concern and we work to significantly reduce serious alcohol harm through a comprehensive approach: research, policy and action. Our new name, brand and strategy will be publicly launched in mid...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - October 2, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Julie Symes Tags: News Source Type: news

Alcohol outlet density and alcohol-related hospital admissions in England: a geographical analysis
Conclusion This study provides a detailed, large-scale picture of the relationship between the shape of the alcohol market in local areas and the levels of alcohol-related hospital admissions in those areas.  It suggests that there is a relationship, and that it is marked especially where there is a high density of any on-trade outlets or licensed convenience stores.  It suggests that this relationship is largely the same for men and women, and applies is a similar fashion irrespective of the relative affluence of a given area. It also suggests that while alcohol outlet density is already high across England, increasing ...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - August 19, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Investigating the Potential Impact of Changing Alcohol Product Labels
Conclusion Changes to the design and content of alcohol labels could help drinkers make more informed choices in relation to alcohol and health. However, this study suggests that consumers pay little attention to health information as currently found on labels. This includes warnings about drinking while pregnant and ‘drink responsibly’ messaging. Such information is typically placed in small font on the reverse of labels (Royal Society for Public Health, 2018)[8] but consumers are more likely to look at information if it is prominently displayed on the front of a product rather than the back or side (Spink, J. et al.,...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - August 17, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Advertising regulation needs strengthening to better regulate alcohol marketing on social media, new research finds
New research published today (18 July 2018) shows the significant role that drinking venues and alcohol brands play in marketing alcohol products to young people on social media. The report highlights how the regulatory system for alcohol marketing (under the UK advertising Codes of Practice regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority) is struggling to keep up with the pace and nature of technological change and needs to be strengthened – taking particular account of marketing by venues as well as brands – to reflect the central role of social media activity in young people’s drinking occasions. The report, ‘A...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - July 17, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Julie Symes Tags: News Source Type: news

All night long: Social media marketing to young people by alcohol brands and venues
Conclusions and Implications Our research indicates that young people are relatively critical of the motives of alcohol companies in promoting their products as well as in their display of ‘responsible drinking’ messages. Our respondents identified stark differences between the images of glamorous and carefree alcohol consumption in some posts and the more likely outcome of drinking heavily. At the same time, social media activity played an important role in the experience of (often heavy) social drinking occasions. Participants used social media to actively seek out ‘cheap deals’ and plan destinations. Older parti...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - July 17, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

The treatment of alcohol dependence by total abstinence: The experience of residents at Studio House, Nottingham
Key findings For residents of Studio House, facilitators and barriers for the successful completion of the programme vary along the recovery journey. The Studio House programme can be viewed as a learning experience. The meaning of recovery for residents goes beyond alcohol abstinence to include mental, physical and relational wellbeing. Staff ability to connect with residents, skills development, programme understanding, and, to a certain extent, peer support are the main facilitators to recovery. Misunderstanding of the ‘consequences system’ could be a barrier to the successful completion of the programme. Mental he...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - July 16, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

Communicating public health alcohol guidance for expectant mothers: a scoping report
Conclusion The current guidance is grounded in a biomedical approach, but communication and advice should reflect the fact that drinking in pregnancy is a socio-ecological issue.  The impact of guidance on alcohol consumption when pregnant or planning a pregnancy may be limited by many factors, including lack of clarity over the evidence, limited acknowledgement of ‘lived experience’ and lack of recognition of the influence of social networks. Further Information Contact details for corresponding author: Dr Rachel Brown, DECIPHer, 1-3 Museum Pl...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - May 17, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

New research: Alcohol treatment services in England at crisis point, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk
This report shows very clearly what action is needed and we urge policy-makers, practitioners and service providers to join together to implement these recommendations to help the hundreds of thousands of people who are in desperate need of support.” ENDS Notes to editors The report: Read the full report here. The report’s 154 respondents were drawn from a wide range of fields related to alcohol services, including nurses, GPs, those working in community safety and service providers. A full breakdown can be found in the report. Alcohol treatment: What is alcohol treatment and why is it important? Read the blog here. M...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - May 1, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Julie Symes Tags: News treatment treatment services Source Type: news

Know Your Limits: Labelling Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Consumption
Conclusion Alcohol labelling provides a relatively low-cost, population-level approach to providing consumers with information about the content and potential harms related to alcohol consumption. In both Studies 1 and 2, we found relatively high levels of support for alcohol labelling interventions, although support for health warnings was lowest. Increased support for health labelling policies was related to more positive responses to health warnings. Our research suggests that a comprehensive alcohol labelling policy should consider a broad range of message content and formatting in order to maximise reach. We have deve...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - April 30, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news

First of its kind study reveals far-reaching benefits of recovery for families of dependent drinkers
This study is important in illustrating not only the impact of dependency on many areas of family life but also the restorative effects of recovery for the user, their families and communities. The research shows the importance of policies that promote recovery for substance users, and clearly indicates the benefits of including the family in the journey of recovery and reintegration.” Vivienne Evans, Chief Executive of Adfam, said: “This report is an invaluable addition to a growing body of knowledge about the impact of substance misuse on families. It supports and adds weight to Adfam’s 30-year mission to provi...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - February 26, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Julie Symes Tags: News addiction recovery Source Type: news

Understanding recovery from a family perspective: A survey of life in recovery for families
Conclusion Family members of people in addiction and recovery have important things to say, and yet their voices are rarely heard. While there is a well-established research evidence base showing the impact of addiction on the lives of drinkers (and other substance users) themselves, this is the first piece of work that illustrates the impact – across multiple domains – on family members around dependent drinkers. The effect of living with a family member who is dependent on alcohol or other substances is substantial and long-lasting: over 70% of participating family members reporting lifetime emotional or ment...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - February 26, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: admin Tags: Alcohol Insights Source Type: news