Changing the Culture of Alcohol Use in Nova Scotia

1
Changing the Cultureof Alcohol Use in Nova
Scotia 

• An Alcohol Strategy to Prevent and Reduce the
  Burden of Alcohol-Related Harm in
• Nova Scotia
• Barbara Miles and Samantha Cukier
• March 27, 2008

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Why an Alcohol Strategy?

• Alcohol use is an accepted part of Nova Scotia
  culture and society.

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Responding to the Challenge

• Problem Drinking identified (2001)
• Funding a Provincial Focus (2003)
• Alcohol Task Group
• Alcohol Indicators Report
• Best Practice Literature (Babor, 2003)
• National Alcohol Strategy
• Alcohol Roundtable (2006)

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Why an Alcohol Strategy?

• The harms and costs associated with alcohol use
  are often overlooked.

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Stakeholder Priorities

• Alcohol as a public health issue
• Lack of basic, balanced consumer information,
  inc. self-assessment
• Balanced approach to alcohol policy
• Routine screening and brief interventions
• Engage/address specific target groups/behaviours
  behaviours of concern
• Promote the variety of accessible
  services/options
• Explore the scope of alcohol-related harm among
  diverse cultural groups and vulnerable
  populations.

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The Cultural Shift

• Denormalize underage drinking
• Denormalize binge drinking public intoxication
• FASD as a community responsibility
• Normalize help-seeking
• New approaches to awareness and education
• Increase focus on prevention and early
  intervention
• A balanced approach to alcohol policy

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Alcohol Strategy Vision

• Safe and healthy Nova Scotians supporting
  responsibility and risk reduction in alcohol use
  a culture of moderation

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Alcohol Strategy Goal

• Prevent and reduce alcohol-related acute and
  chronic health, social and economic harm and
  costs among individuals, families, and
  communities in Nova Scotia

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Approach

• The provincial alcohol strategy will attend to
  best practices and incorporate both population
  health approaches and targeted interventions
  aimed at the most harmful patterns and contexts
  of alcohol consumption
• Cultural change

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The Five Key Directions

• Community Capacity and Partnership Building
• Communication and Social Marketing
• Strengthening Prevention, Early Intervention, and
  Treatment
• Healthy Public Policy
• Research and Evaluation

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Community Capacity and Partnership Building

• Increase the knowledge and skills of stakeholders
  to prevent and respond to alcohol-related harms
• Build partnerships and capacity for
  multi-sectoral, coordinated, culturally relevant
  approach, reflecting a shared responsibility

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Community CapacityProvincial Focus

• District Alcohol Staff
• Alcohol Forum
• Media Training
• Linking with other provincial strategies

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Community CapacityDistrict Focus

• Regional Alcohol Strategy Advisory Forum
• Internal capacity-building
• Community stakeholder linkages

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Communication and Social Marketing

• Alcohol as a critical public health and safety
  issue
• Healthy, responsible, and safer decisions about
  alcohol use, and where to get help
• Shape cultural norms to reduce acceptability of
  high-risk drinking practices

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Communication and Social Marketing Provincial
Focus

• Communication strategy to raise profile of
  alcohol issues
• Low-risk drinking guidelines
• Resources for high-risk groups practices

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Communication and Social Marketing District Focus

• District Advertising

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Communication and Social Marketing District Focus
(Contd)

• Advocacy Writing
• Self-help My Choice

http//www.cdha.nshealth.ca/default.aspx?page86n
ews.Id.023290
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Strengthening Prevention, Early Intervention, and
Treatment

• Developing brief intervention tools
• Services when and where the client needs these
• Prevent and /or delay the onset of alcohol use
  among youth
• Address high-risk drinking behaviours and
  contexts

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Strengthening Prevention, Early Intervention
Treatment Provincial Focus

• Brief Intervention
• Its Good Business Responsible Beverage Service
  Program

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Strengthening Prevention, Early Intervention
Treatment District Focus

• MARC Making Alcohol Related Changes
• How Not to Spoil the Fun
• Pilot - Brief Intervention in Provincial EHS
  Trauma Program

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Healthy Public Policy

• Reflect a balance among health protection and
  harm prevention, the health benefits of
  moderation, and the costs and benefits to the
  economy
• Proven policies that prevent and reduce high-risk
  drinking practices and contexts
• Reduce the impacts of drinking and driving
• Culturally competent, evidence-based public
  policy initiatives at the local level
•  

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Healthy Public PolicyProvincial Focus

• Alcohol Strategy Policy Advisory Committee
• Alcohol policy in licensed establishments
• Youth access to alcohol
• Alcohol advertising

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Healthy Public PolicyDistrict Focus

• School-based policy
• Workplace policy
• Increasing capacity for policy work

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Research and Evaluation

• Facilitate access to and develop knowledge to
  inform policies, programs, and practices that
  will prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm.
• Facilitate the transfer of knowledge to inform
  policies, programs, and practices for preventing
  and reducing alcohol-related harm.
• Develop and implement an evaluation framework for
  the components of the Nova Scotia Alcohol
  Strategy.

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Research and EvaluationProvincial Focus

• Alcohol Indicators Report
• Best and most-promising practices
• Culture of Alcohol Use study
• Youth Context study

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Research and EvaluationDistrict Focus

• Scanning and dissemination
• Research and best practice utilization
• Input into provincial research projects

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Outcomes

• Short-term (1-3 years)
• Intermediate (3-7 years)
• Long-term (7-10 years)

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Challenges and Opportunities

• Readiness for cultural shift
• Importance of the messenger(s)
• Policy coherence
• Building internal capacity for policy making
• Evidence, evidence, evidence and its practical
  application