Summer is upon us and for many people alcohol is an important part of summer fun. Many people wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for a cold beer or a chilled Chardonnay any more then they’d give up a game of football, cricket, or a picnic by the beach. It might even be a time when people drink more than usual.
The Alcohol Interventions Team continues to offer sessions to help individuals drinking at increasing risk and higher risk levels. We can provide practical advice, information and support to enable individuals to make positive changes to their drinking behaviour.
Service Success……
The Alcohol Interventions Teamhave now received in excess of 2000 referrals since its implementation in 2008. Much of this growth has been within the last year and we would like to thank you all for your support. Results indicate that people are benefitting from the service and are cutting down their drinking to lower risk levels within the duration of the appointments and on to 3 months after completion.
However, this is just the tip of the iceburg in relation to the numbers of people that could benefit from our support. There are an estimated 8,000+ people within the city drinking at higher risk levels and even more at increasing risk. These people will not be presenting with an alcohol related issue, or even feel they have an issue with drinking. So how do we spot them, and why should you ask the question about alcohol use???
Who to refer?
The types of people that will benefit from support from the AIT are not presenting with an alcohol related condition. They probably do not even recognise alcohol as an element to their illnesses. Generally they are normal everyday people. However, we know that there are certain conditions that people present with where alcohol is likely to be affecting their quality of life.
This quarter we ask you to think about patients that have been on anti-depressants for 6 months or more. It is our experience that people who are suffering with depression may well be using alcohol as a crutch or coping mechanism to get through the day. It is possible that support from us, even if their level of drinking is not considered problematic by them, may also improve their psychological wellbeing. That’s a win – win for all involved!!
AIT Developments and Changes
The AIT has been through a recent period of resturcture. This has meant that we can now focus our resources to support you more. This includes taking on 2 new members of staff with another joining in July. Therefore, we will be making our way round to all surgeries (some may already have been visited) and look at how we can improve the service to meet your patient’s needs. We are open to any ideas that you may have and welcome the opportunity to attend clinical meetings and health promotion days.
The AIT is now working more closely with Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) to offer supportive groups to clients engaging with these services. These groups are based on the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Anyone who is currently involved with CMHT and who considers their use of alcohol to be problematic is welcome to attend. Interested individuals should be encouraged to talk to their care co-ordinator or contact the Alcohol Interventions Team for more information.
Alcohol work at QA Hospital
The AIT has two members of staff based permanently at QA Hospital working alongside the Alcohol Specialist Nurse Service. The service provides support for patients undertaking an alcohol detox in the form of 1:1 support and ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) classes held on a Tuesday & Thursday. Attendance at these classes has remained high with many patients now
using ACT resources in the community such as ACT2Recovery to support them in continuing their treatment. In the coming weeks ACT classes are to start daily for in-patients on wards C5 & C6 whose admission is alcohol related. AIT staff members also work throughout the hospital offering interventions, alcohol education, onward referral and support to patients identified as drinking above safe limits on admission.
Alcohol work in the Probation Service
The AIT continue to work in close partnership with Hampshire Probation Trust and this is reflected by the consistent referrals to the Team - since the formation of the Service in 2008 there have been just short of 500 referrals from Probation staff. Recently we've seen an increase in voluntary referrals to the service meaning that clients are choosing to engage with the team rather than it being part of their Community Order, this shows that the Service is becoming more popular and familiar within Probation as well as the wider Community.Also, ACT will soon be delivered as part of Alcohol Specified Activity Orders. If you have a patient involved with the probation service and would like further informationon this please feel free to contact us.
Supporting You
Part of the work done by the AIT focuses on training professionals about a range of alcohol related topics and we have had experience of providing training to a variety of health professionals including dentists, health care support workers and pharmacists. If your surgery could do with an update on alcohol related recommendations, guidelines and the identification of pre-dependant drinkers the AIT would be happy to provide training.
For any information on the services that the AIT provide, or to request resources, please contact us on 023 9284 1753