North West Alcohol Forum

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North West Alcohol Forum

• Pat Harvey
• Oct 2005

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What am I doing here ? !
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Some children are anxious about their parents
drinking !
Some parents are anxious about their childrens
drinking !
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International league of drinkers..
?
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International league of drinkers..
At the top !!!
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The practical expression

• A and E -1 in 4
• Mental Health Admissions -2nd most common
• Family dysfunction -25 alcohol
  related
• Public Order offences -1000 local cases

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Cont

• Absenteesism
• Unplanned pregnancies
• Self Harm where up to 50 feature alcohol

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Worsening pattern Up 40 per head in ten
years !
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If we are not careful ..we will finish up
where we are heading !
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We need to wise-up and
together, do something about it!
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We in Ireland have a long standing love
affair with alcohol. ..but that affair has
begun to turn sour ! Denis Bradley
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Who ?
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Who ?
It is beyond the capacity of any one group
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The entire community needs to be mobilised
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i
 
 
 



i NWAF (2004.) What is Community Mobilisation?
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North West Alcohol Forum

• A Portrait of our Drinking
• Tanaistes endorsement

Make it happen!
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Action Plan

• Awareness raising
• Interventions
• Evaluation / transferability

Aggressive campaign
4 Areas -Community -Education -Health -Justice
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Illustrations

• Fas Le Cheile
• Gardai
• Education SPHE
• Youth Council
• Responsible Server Training
• Tailored programmes for higher risk groups

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Cont

• Primary Health Care, GPs
• Acute Hospitals
• Treatment Services
• Working with organisations to develop workplace
  related Alcohol Policies
• Increase no. of dedicated youth workers

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Cont

• Interagency liaison
• Develop schools material
• Cross border initiatives
• Advertising bans!
• Hospital Reference / Focus groups

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To-date

• Portrait of our Drinking
• National injuries study in A and E
• Straight Talk guide for parents
• Teenage Kicksawareness programme with DCC
• Community detox initiative Oct 05
• Out of hours parenting service
• Fas le Cheile

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Engine Room
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Friends ..to help it all happen at a pace
and at a level not possible through public
funding alone
Ownership !
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The impact sought.

• Safer roads
• Mental well-being for all
• Good social life / quality leisure time
• Enjoyed prosperity

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To be known as the country that tackled harmful
drinking and turned the problem around
and why not!!
employment
smoking
emigration
wealth
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Enough is enough a long haul.. We all need
to be at it !
We all need to be at it !