An evaluation has shown that taking ‘IBA direct’ to people on the streets of South London was found to be highly effective in engaging people and delivering brief intervention.
The project, branded ‘The London Challenge: are you healthier than your mates?’, took place over three days in August and tested a number of methods to engage passersby and deliver IBA.
Resonant, a specialist behaviour change agency, had been commissioned by NHS Lambeth to deliver the activity in a way which would engage at-risk drinkers in their 20’s as an identified target group. Within the borough, this age range were found to be less likely to access services where they might receive IBA, but many were found to be drinking at risky levels.
As part of the ‘The London Challenge’, four ‘brand ambassadors’ were trained to engage passersby and offer IBA. Free ‘mocktails’ were offered as an incentive to ‘hook’ the public into completing the AUDIT.
Resonant developed the approach based on research and ‘co-creation’ with the target group who identified that answering alcohol questions and receiving ‘brief advice’ was acceptable as long as it was engaging and non-judgemental.
The evaluation was independently conducted by the South London Health Innovation Network (HIN) Alcohol team.
Rod Watson, Senior Project Manager (Alcohol) for the Health Innovation Network highlights some key observations on the evaluation findings:
- The service evaluation found IBA Direct is feasible and acceptable at being delivered in a public setting by non-health professionals.
- Over the course of the three days of the project, 402 people received IBA.
- The brand ambassadors engaged people with professionalism and their approach was central to the large number of people taking part.
- A small follow up sample of the 402 people who received IBA direct showed a reduction in AUDIT scores six weeks following the intervention. (Note: caution should be exercised here as no control group was used).
- A participant feedback form was completed by 61 people. Participants rated both the ‘London Challenge’ and the service they received from a brand ambassador highly.
- All respondents found the setting to be suitable and 90% stated they would take part in this service in a public setting again. There was nothing reported back that indicated any concerns from people about the public setting of the project.
As such the project shows significant potential for delivering IBA ‘direct’ to people in public spaces. Given the challenges facing IBA in other settings, this approach could offer a promising channel to reach new groups of at-risk drinkers.
The full report can be downloaded here:
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Briefing on IBA & LGBT people – a key group to ‘target’?
9 OctThe briefing provides a short background of IBA as a short alcohol intervention, and considerations for ensuring IBA can reach LGBT people. For those already seeking IBA implementation, it may highlight another setting or area to consider engaging front line roles with training and support, or opportunity to build IBA into service commissioning.
Of course the debate about which wider settings should IBA be sought in goes on, and the challenges may not be wholly different from many other settings where IBA is sought. At the same time, it urges all staff delivering IBA to ‘ensure their approach is culturally sensitive and LGB & T-inclusive’, given discrimination that LGB&T service users often report when using mainstream services.
The briefing though may be of most use in encouraging LGBT specific services to incorporate IBA as something to potentially benefit their service users. As the briefing advises, ‘IBAs can readily be incorporated into initial screening and triage for new service users; into case or care plan reviews with existing service users; or into outreach interventions in LGBT social settings.’
Of course any practitioner delivering IBA should show key skills that both underpin brief intervention and non-judgmental person-centred approaches relevant for ensuring people of any sexual orientation feel well treated . The reality though is that more training, support and resources are needed for quality IBA to be adopted more widely. And with LGBT people likely to make up between 1.5 – 7% of the adult population, as a ‘high risk’ group for alohol misuse it makes sense to support LGBT services specifically in IBA delivery.
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Tags: alcohol, gay, IBA, LGBT