The Alcohol Intervention Training Program (AITP): a response to alcohol misuse in the farming community.

Susan A Brumby,David Mellor,Alison J Kennedy,Lina A Ricciardelli,Alexandra Head,Catherine Mercer-Grant,Marita P Mccabe

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-242

Abstract

BackgroundFarm men and women in Australia have higher levels of problematic alcohol use than their urban counterparts and experience elevated health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. The Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) program has worked successfully with farm men and women to address health, well- being and safety and has identified that further research and training is required to understand and address alcohol misuse behaviours. This project will add an innovative component to the program by training health professionals working with farm men and women to discuss and respond to alcohol-related physical and mental health problems.Methods/DesignA mixed method design with multi-level evaluation will be implemented following the development and delivery of a training program (The Alcohol Intervention Training Program {AITP}) for Sustainable Farm Families health professionals. Pre-, post- and follow-up surveys will be used to assess both the impact of the training on the knowledge, confidence and skills of the health professionals to work with alcohol misuse and associated problems, and the impact of the training on the attitudes, behaviour and mental health of farm men and women who participate in the SFF project. Evaluations will take a range of forms including self-rated outcome measures and interviews.DiscussionThe success of this project will enhance the health and well-being of a critical population, the farm men and women of Australia, by producing an evidence-based strategy to assist them to adopt more positive alcohol-related behaviours that will lead to better physical and mental health.

Highlights

Farm men and women in Australia have higher levels of problematic alcohol use than their urban counterparts and experience elevated health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption
One area identified as a major problem for farm communities is alcohol misuse and its associated problems - preliminary research suggests that 54 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women in the broad acre agriculture industry engage in high risk drinking at least monthly [3,4] based on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2001 guidelines [5]
Our pilot work demonstrated that most Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) health professionals felt it was much easier to discuss behavioural risk factors such as obesity, smoking and lack of exercise than drinking too much

Summary

Introduction

Farm men and women in Australia have higher levels of problematic alcohol use than their urban counterparts and experience elevated health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. The Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) program has worked successfully with farm men and women to address health, well- being and safety and has identified that further research and training is required to understand and address alcohol misuse behaviours. This project will add an innovative component to the program by training health professionals working with farm men and women to discuss and respond to alcohol-related physical and mental health problems. Whilst 75% of the 45 health professionals surveyed indicated that they knew where to refer people with alcohol problems, there were only three alcohol related referrals documented

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion