July/August 2016 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 7
exchange
More good practice stories at
A
set of digital tools has been developed
through a partnership between drug
and alcohol charity Blenheim and peer
community Club Soda. Nudging Pubs includes
an online self-assessment, where customers
can review and vote for local venues that
support those wanting to drink less.
The accompanying
Nudging pubs
report
shares findings from a year of research with
venues in Hackney, looking at how pubs and
bars can accommodate people who want to
drink less alcohol. It gives a picture of venues
that want to do more, but lack ideas, time and
space to make changes.
The report also reveals poor information for
customers on making healthier choices,
including non-alcoholic options, and shows a
lack of shared understanding of what
‘promoting sensible drinking’ means in local
authority licensing policies.
‘We know that pubs and bars want to
cater for the growing market of individuals
drinking less alcohol, and we want to set the
gold standard for what “good” looks like,’ said
Laura Willoughby of Club
Soda, which supports
people to change their
drinking, whether they
want to cut down or stop.
‘Most importantly we
want the customers to
have the final say on
which venues are the
best. We think this
product will do that.’
The initiative is being
supported by Hackney
Council, through their
Healthier Hackney Fund, which helps
organisations to test new ways of addressing
major public health challenges.
‘We hope that this initiative will empower
customers, as well as pubs and bars
themselves, to talk more openly about the
choices and opportunities for people who
want to drink a bit less alcohol on a night
out,’ said Penny Bevan, Hackney’s director of
public health. ‘A quarter of 16 to 24-year-olds
don’t drink, so this is about making licensed
venues better for everyone.’
John Jolly, chief executive of Blenheim,
welcomed the opportunity to innovate on a
difficult issue. ‘The project is an exciting
opportunity for us to work with new partners
and develop new tools to promote behaviour
change with a wider audience,’ he said.
and on Twitter
@nudgingpubs
‘We hope this
initiative will
empower
customers
to talk more
openly about
choices...’
A helpful nudge
A partnership between Blenheim and
Club Soda aims to change drinking habits
‘I ABSOLUTELY SWEAR BY IT’
– a phrase normally prefacing someone’s sure fire
solution to weight loss, eradicating the ‘soggy bottom’ from your home-baked pies
or some other conundrum of modern life. Some can be surprisingly evangelical
about their guaranteed cure and cannot entertain the possibility that there might
be an alternative, even backing up claims with a degree of pseudoscience. The
history of addictions treatment has been peppered with similar stories and as
practitioners you can feel that you need to pick a side, which changes as often as
the seasons. ‘Are we still recovery orientated?’ ‘Is it the chronic disease model now?’
‘What happened to harm minimisation?’
Made to
Measure
Promotional feature
It’s time to ditch the ‘one size fits all’ approach
and be ready to respond to clients’ needs –
whatever stage they’re at says Dr Julia Lewis
Very often our particular allegiance is linked to the direct experience of our
service users, yet what we practise is often determined by our commissioners.
Gabrielle Glaser, author of
Her Best-Kept Secret: WhyWomen Drink – And How They
Can Regain Control
recently criticised the way in which 12-step approaches are
virtually mandated within the American healthcare system. And the situation within
the UK is no different, with absurdities such as the commissioning of time-limited
treatment programmes (because obviously everyone achieves recovery within the
same time frame). The reality is, however, that we cannot have a ‘one size fits all’
approach as every service user is different and they all need a personalised response.
So, what’s the answer? Well, firstly, addictions treatment has to move out of
the realms of pseudoscience and into the bold world of evidence-based practice –
we cannot pour scarce resources into interventions that have no proven
effectiveness. Secondly we have to embrace person-centred treatment fully and be
prepared to put aside our own hobby horses – we are not here to mould service
users into specific treatments because they just happen to be the ones we have on
offer. We are here to ask the question, ‘what would a good life look like to you?’
and then support them to make those changes.
A ‘one size fits all’ approach is ineffective. We need to use the whole array of
skills to provide the best service to each individual – and that means ensuring
those working in the addictions field are sufficiently supported, challenged and
empowered through evidence-based training and effective regular supervision.
Pulse Addictions provides tailored training, consultancy and clinical management
in the field of substance misuse and associated areas to organisations across the UK.
With a proven track record of developing services, whether community based, NHS,
third sector, private sector, residential or secure, they have the expertise to meet the
most demanding of briefs with a personal touch.
Dr Julia Lewis is medical director at Pulse,
