An IBA training app was recently released on the apple store, Google play and also on the amazon app store. The free app is available to download to support front line health or social care professional roles to offer simple alcohol brief intervention.
The app contains a simple format to introducing the key fundamental knowledge and skills required to offer alcohol ‘Identification and Brief Advice’, with a focus on possible scenarios and responses. Firstly, the app offers a background to IBA and how early intervention for alcohol misuse is suitable for around a quarter of the adult population. It also offers interactive sections exploring key areas such as alcohol units and the AUDIT screening tool.
The main focus of the app focuses on a number of scenarios demonstrating suggested ‘brief advice’ responses as well as examples of how not to respond to ambivalent or resistant responses. The scenarios include actors playing increasing, higher risk and possibly dependent drinkers, each showing a range of possible attitudes and practitioner responses.
The app offers a shorter alternative to the 2 hour online IBA e-learning which has proven a popular resource. Nonetheless, good face to face training should still be considered the gold standard training approach. Of course many busy front line roles may not have access to face to face training so the app offers a quick and effective introduction to IBA delivery.
Who needs IBA?
16 AprRecognising the ‘right’ group of patients or service users for delivering identification and brief advice is one of the first hurdles to be overcome by non-specialists getting to grips with delivery. Most IBA guidance, based on reasonable evidence, suggests that those who might benefit from brief advice are drinking at increasing or higher risk levels. We spend quite a bit of time on training talking about how you can identify these people using screening questions, and crucially, how you can’t identify them by looking, guessing or assuming!
So why is it then that when we follow-up participants some months after training courses, some still report that they have not delivered IBA because ‘my clients don’t need it’? Some say that all their clients are drinking too much to benefit from IBA; others that their service users do not drink enough to need help, but these conclusions are not necessarily based on screening. Why?
Well, I have a few theories…firstly I think it is worth acknowledging that this could just be an excuse, perhaps training participants just feel bad if they haven’t delivered and so they want to give us a good reason why.
Or perhaps it is true – though it seems unlikely that practitioners working with the general public, have not come across anyone at all who is drinking more than the recommended limits, but not in a dependent way!
I think the former is more likely, but it is not as simple as them making it up to satisfy us. I think they are rationalising to themselves as well as us, why they haven’t delivered. And I think (among other reasons) it comes down to the fact that in order to truly recognise the target groups for IBA, we need to recognise that included in the target group are folk, well, just like us. Or if not us, like folk we know and like. Not a stereotype ‘heavy drinker’, never mind ‘alcoholic’. And that might mean recognising that we, or our family or friends, have a choice to make too…enjoy our drink and accept the risks, or cut the drink and cut the risk…
Delivering IBA is just about giving everybody that information, and that choice.
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