Abstract
Background: Surveys show that over 50’s in the UK are more likely to exceed recommended drink limits than younger adults. Therefore, there is a need for specific interventions to tackle alcohol related harm in over 50’s. Drink Wise Age Well (DWAW) was a UK wide Big Lottery funded community programme which aimed to reduce alcohol related harm in the over 50’s. It is a multi-level programme, which consisted of:
A prevention and campaigning intervention
A Resilience intervention for all over 50’s
A Direct engagement service for over 50’s misusing alcohol
A family support intervention
The evaluation objectives were to:-
Determine whether the programme was working well
Measure impact and effectiveness
Method: This evaluation study utilised a range of instruments pre and post intervention to asses effectiveness, these were analysed using SPSS. Data on reach was also collected. Ethical approval was obtained in 2015 at the University of Bedfordshire (lead research institute) and the three other contributing Universities.
Findings: More than 15 million people were exposed to media messages about the DWAW and more than 60,000 leaflets or materials were distributed.
7,641 people utilised the resilience programme. Among people who had low resilience when they started the resilience course, 49% had normal/ high resilience by the end.
More than 2,600 group sessions for people misusing alcohol were facilitated. 48% stopped drinking and 40% reduced their alcohol.
Family support groups proved difficult to organise. On average there was a 50% reduction in “family burden”.
Conclusions and implications: DWAW has contributed to reducing alcohol harm in people aged 50 and over in the areas it was delivered in. This suggests merit in provision of age specific interventions for older adults at risk of alcohol related harm.
A prevention and campaigning intervention
A Resilience intervention for all over 50’s
A Direct engagement service for over 50’s misusing alcohol
A family support intervention
The evaluation objectives were to:-
Determine whether the programme was working well
Measure impact and effectiveness
Method: This evaluation study utilised a range of instruments pre and post intervention to asses effectiveness, these were analysed using SPSS. Data on reach was also collected. Ethical approval was obtained in 2015 at the University of Bedfordshire (lead research institute) and the three other contributing Universities.
Findings: More than 15 million people were exposed to media messages about the DWAW and more than 60,000 leaflets or materials were distributed.
7,641 people utilised the resilience programme. Among people who had low resilience when they started the resilience course, 49% had normal/ high resilience by the end.
More than 2,600 group sessions for people misusing alcohol were facilitated. 48% stopped drinking and 40% reduced their alcohol.
Family support groups proved difficult to organise. On average there was a 50% reduction in “family burden”.
Conclusions and implications: DWAW has contributed to reducing alcohol harm in people aged 50 and over in the areas it was delivered in. This suggests merit in provision of age specific interventions for older adults at risk of alcohol related harm.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 10 Mar 2021 |
| Event | Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2021: 'Transforming healthcare in a changing world: new ways of thinking and working' - Dublin, Ireland Duration: 09 Mar 2021 → 11 Mar 2021 |
Conference
| Conference | Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2021: 'Transforming healthcare in a changing world: new ways of thinking and working' |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Ireland |
| City | Dublin |
| Period | 09/03/2021 → 11/03/2021 |
Keywords
- alcohol
- older people