Study: Stepped care intervention tackles alcohol addiction

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by Change | 4 Nov 2009

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New research has suggested that a stepped care intervention programme can help cut the consumption of alcohol among people suffering from alcohol addiction.

A new study has found people suffering from alcohol addiction could benefit from an intervention that seeks to slowly tackle their problem.

According to a report published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, a variety of experts in alcohol addiction from across the UK studied the effects of a stepped care intervention programme in helping alcohol addicts in Wales to curb their consumption.

The study involved 1,794 male primary care attendees and saw them put into two groups, with some receiving five minutes of minimal intervention delivered by a practice nurse and the other group being given stepped care intervention consisting of three successive steps.

The results revealed both groups reduced alcohol consumption during the first six months of the trial, while motivation to tackle their addiction and obtain appropriate addiction treatment was greater in the stepped care intervention group.

Furthermore, the researchers concluded that stepped care intervention could provide a useful and cost-effective way to help people beat alcohol addiction, concluding it is "feasible to implement in the primary care setting", providing greater cost savings compared with minimal intervention.

The government is increasingly worried about the impact that binge drinking could have on alcohol addiction for future generations.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has proposed introducing a minimum price per unit of alcohol to reduce the availability of cheap drinks in supermarkets and pubs.

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