Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Alcohol Intervention Tips

Alcohol Intervention Tips
The Alcohol intervention is a process that enables an alcoholic to recognize their problem. Alcoholics usually do not realise their alcohol usage is abnormal compared with their peers; they see nothing wrong with the amount of alcohol they consume, and it appears to them that a ‘normal’ amount of alcohol is being consumed. They do not realise their consumption is out of control until they receive objective feedback on their behaviour.Alcohol intervention is thus a process that is non-judgmental, systemic, and non-critical, whereby the alcoholic is confronted with their alcoholism behaviours. The goal is for the alcoholic to accept their problem and reach out for help. Alcohol interventions work best when either the alcoholic is self-motivated OR when a trained counsellor motivates the alcoholic towards recovery from alcohol use.A study demonstrates that alcohol intervention can be highly effective. Alcohol intervention was provided to counsel postpartum women about alcohol use at 45-days postpartum, 2 weeks, 28-days and monthly for 6 months. Postpartum can be defined as the period after a woman has given birth. At this period, women have a high risk of postpartum depression. The study’s brief intervention included two 15-minute counselling visits, and follow up phone conversations at 2 weeks.The results were astonishing; the women who had brief alcohol intervention reported significantly more reductions of consumption of standard drinks than those who had been in the control group (no counselling or intervention). Postpartum women who had no alcohol intervention consumed 14.2 alcoholic drinks on average, compared to postpartum women undergoing intervention who had consumed only 5.1 drinks on average between baseline to 6 months. This was a significant finding as the women drank more than 20 standard drinks, or more than 4 drinks on more than 4 occasions, or more than 20 days of drinking alcohol prior to the study within 28 day trial period (i.e. prior to baseline).It is clear that even brief intervention, which includes counselling even via the phone, is an important factor in reducing alcohol consumption and/or dependence.
References: Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/postpartumFleming MF, Lund MR, Wilton G, et al. The Healthy Moms Study: the efficacy of brief alcohol intervention in postpartum women. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008;32(9):1600–1606.Narconon – Drug, Rehab and Addiction Centers. http://www.addictionca.com/alcohol-intervention.htm
Load disqus comments

0 comments