STAGE 5. Defining the action plan

What steps should be completed?

Step 1: Specify intervention actions

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES TO REDUCE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

The evidence for multicomponent community interventions to reduce the risks associated with alcohol consumption is moderate, although it seems that they can reduce consumption among drivers, deaths by traffic accidents and injuries from aggression related to alcohol consumption.¹

Community programmes to reduce the risks and harm caused by alcohol use include information and education campaigns, promotion in the media, subvertising, health promotion, controls in places where alcohol is sold and consumed, regulations to reduce access to alcohol, etc.²

Community interventions that have achieved better results have paid special attention to controlling access to alcoholic beverages, including environmental contexts where they are sold and distributed (responsible dispensing, prohibition of drinking in public spaces not intended for it), and community involvement in compliance with public health policies.³

The most effective community programmes to reduce the risks and harm associated with alcohol consumption meet the following criteria¹:

GOOD FUNCTIONING

Include strategies to mobilise the community to raise awareness of local problems related to alcohol consumption. Use community mobilisation to develop concrete solutions to the problems caused by alcohol. Make use of community mobilisation to pressure bar owners to recognise that they have a responsibility to the community in aspects such as the level of noise in their premises and their clients’ behaviour. Promote responsible dispensing of alcoholic beverages. Favour strict adherence to alcohol legislation.

 

References:

1  WHO (2009). Evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.

2 Giesbrecht N. (2003). Alcohol, tobacco and local control. A comparison of several community-based prevention trials. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 20: 25-40

3  Holder HD. (1998). Alcohol and the community: a systems approach to prevention. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.