Delivering alcohol IBA: is there a case for mainstreaming? Insights from an expert workshop and from the published literature

Identification and brief advice (IBA) has been widely advocated as a cost effective intervention to address problem drinking. Evidence for the effectiveness of IBA comes largely from primary care studies. Research in pharmacies, educational settings and criminal justice settings has indicated the possibilities for successful delivery of IBA but there is little solid evidence to support mainstreaming IBA beyond core medical facilities. Furthermore, even in primary health care settings there are continuing difficulties around implementing IBA (see: Thom et al., 2014) and continuing debate about the research findings (Heather, 2014). A number of key questions around the drive towards wider implementation of IBA were debated at an expert workshop in Birmingham in November 2014. The questions debated were: 1. What are the challenges and barriers to broadening the contexts in which alcohol IBA is delivered? 2. How can these challenges and barriers be addressed? 3. Should delivery of alcohol IBA in wider contexts (mainstreaming) be a policy goal? This monograph provides insights from this expert workshop and from the published literature on theses questions.

Alcohol Research UK are the funders of the research and make the results of research funded by them freely available via their website http://alcoholresearchuk.org/. They have published the report deposited on their website http://alcoholresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mainstreamin...