Abstract
BackgroundAlcohol use disorders have become the second leading cause of death for mental and substance use disorders in China. However, with early diagnosis and timely treatment, the burden can be mitigated. Family and friends of a person with alcohol use problems are well placed to recognize the signs, encourage professional help-seeking and help the person until treatment is received. We aimed to use the Delphi consensus methodology to develop guidelines about how members of the public can provide this “mental health first aid” to someone with problem drinking in China.MethodsA Chinese-language questionnaire was developed, comprising statements that were endorsed for inclusion in the English-language problem drinking first aid guidelines for high-income countries. Participants were also encouraged to suggest new statements. These statements were evaluated by two Chinese expert panels – a professional panel and a lived experience panel – on how important they believed each statement was for members of the public providing mental health first aid to a person with problem drinking in China. Three survey rounds were conducted. To be included in the final guidelines, statements had to receive a “very important” or “important” rating from at least 80% of participants from each of the panels.ResultsThe majority of statements were rated in the first survey round by 30 mental health professionals and 25 lived experience panel members. One hundred and eighty-one statements met the inclusion criteria and were used to form the guidelines. Compared to the English-language guidelines, the importance of family involvement and mutual support were highlighted by both Chinese expert panels, while a number of statements relating to low-risk drinking were rejected by the lived experience panel.ConclusionsThe Chinese-language problem drinking first aid guidelines cover a variety of first aid strategies that members of the public can use when providing initial help to a person with problem drinking, such as how to communicate with the person and what to do if the person is intoxicated. These guidelines will be used as a stand-alone document will also inform the content of Mental Health First Aid training in China.
Highlights
In Chinese culture, drinking alcohol has long been accepted as an indispensable element, in the celebration of special events such as the Chinese New Year, and in social networking such as building and strengthening one’s relationships with family, friends and colleagues [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
This study aimed to develop guidelines for members of the public providing mental health first aid to a person with problem drinking in China
A total of 181 statements that were endorsed by both professional and lived experience panels were used to form the guidelines. These guidelines cover a variety of mental health first aid strategies, including recognizing and understanding problem drinking and alcohol intoxication, communicating with the person, encouraging low-risk drinking, professional help and other supports, dealing with social pressure to drink, emergencies related to alcohol intoxication and alcohol withdrawal, what to do if the person is intoxicated, vomits, falls asleep, or becomes aggressive because of being intoxicated, what to do if the person is unwilling to change their drinking behavior or unwilling to get professional help, and seeking medical help
Summary
In Chinese culture, drinking alcohol has long been accepted as an indispensable element, in the celebration of special events such as the Chinese New Year, and in social networking such as building and strengthening one’s relationships with family, friends and colleagues [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. While per capita alcohol consumption has declined in high-income countries in the past 30 years, it has been continuously increasing in middleincome countries such as China [9]. The 2013 Global Burden of Disease study revealed that alcohol use disorders explained 5% of mental, neurological and substance use disorder burden in mainland China, and of all mental and substance use disorders, alcohol use disorders ranked as the second leading cause of death [10, 11]. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that in mainland China, 36.3% of males and 8.6% of females aged 15 years and above were heavy drinkers. Alcohol use disorders have become the second leading cause of death for mental and substance use disorders in China. And friends of a person with alcohol use problems are well placed to recognize the signs, encourage professional helpseeking and help the person until treatment is received. We aimed to use the Delphi consensus methodology to develop guidelines about how members of the public can provide this “mental health first aid” to someone with problem drinking in China
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