Drinkaware Trust

RESPONSIBLE DRINKING; CHANGING ATTITUDES, CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

Jean Collingwood, Chief Executive, Drinkaware takes an in-depth look at the problems of promoting a responsible, UK-wide drinking culture, particularly in young people, and elaborates on the methods of positive engagement as a means of bringing about longer lasting change.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” — James Baldwin

Drinkaware is a consumer-facing, independent charity whose mission is to change society by promoting a responsible, UK-wide drinking culture and in doing so reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol-related harm to individuals and society.

For centuries alcohol has played a central role in British culture and is part of our societal DNA. It is a highly emotive, social-marketing issue and challenge — as most members of the public will have equal recall of both negative and positive experiences of alcohol including friends and family and from weddings to funerals. These combine ultimately to shape our views and create our own personal relationship with alcohol.

From a social-marketing point of view, the public is segmented by socio-economic and demographic groups and then further divided by alcohol intake, frequency and degree of dependency. This ranges from the much publicised binge drinkers in the population, men and women who drink in excess of 8 or 6 units respectively in one session, through to hazardous drinkers — women who drink 21–35 units and men who drink 35–50 units per week — and then beyond into harmful or chronic drinkers and those dependent on alcohol. This may seem straightforward enough, but this model does not take into account what may be a very large part of the population that have not been surveyed and therefore do not feature in statistics. This group may not self-recognise or have been made aware of any excesses in their alcohol intake from their peers or society at large.

Public perceptions

The public believe and the media further instil a perception that more young people are drinking now then ever before. However, this is not borne out in the facts. The latest research shows that since 2001 the number of young people aged 11–15 who drink alcohol has in fact reduced. In 2006, 21 per cent of pupils aged 11–15 drank alcohol in the previous week compared to 26% per cent in 2001. However, those that are consuming alcohol are now drinking more and more often. The average consumption per week among young people under 15 has increased from 5.3 units in 1990 to 11.4 units in 2006.

So what is our approach?

We believe that a holistic approach can make a difference and change young people’s attitudes and relationship to alcohol. It is possible to make a positive difference in young people’s lives by effectively addressing the psychological aspects of their approach to drinking, in particular by acknowledging priorities that are real to them and by creating authentic engagement at every level. Also, a more pragmatic approach needs to be adopted in order to understand what motivates young people in the first place.

Drinkaware Young People and Alcohol Consultation Panel findings

Earlier this year, Drinkaware held a series of ‘Young People and Alcohol’ panels. A consultation of 110 14–25 year olds was undertaken, and it was revealed that they all had remarkably similar views about the factors that contribute to the UK drinking culture as well as ideas on the best ways to promote messages about safe and sensible drinking.

Key findings regarding the UK drinking culture included the dominant view that young people ‘drink to get drunk’. Drinking is also seen as a solution to a range of issues such as shyness, boredom, politeness and stress. Despite differences between the genders in terms of what they drink and why they drink, the purpose of ‘drinking to get drunk’ is the same for males and females.

When asked about ways to challenge the UK drinking culture, young people said that it would take a long time to change, perhaps a generation or more. They believe that this should start with educating young children long before they begin drinking and that there needs to be a wide range of advertising and promotional campaigns targeted at young people to re-instil central messages. Young people also think that alcohol education should be significantly increased in schools and youth clubs and that education by peers and young adults could be effective.  They believe that scare tactics and the demonisation of alcohol should be avoided, and that a responsible youth culture could be created by empowerment rather than by focusing on the punishment of the minority who drink to excess and their negative impact upon society.

One route is to give young people unique experiences that provide them with the same positive effects such as increased enjoyment, confidence and self-expression that they gain through drinking. This would demonstrate that these effects are just as achievable through personal development and healthy psychological-state management.

It is Drinkaware’s intention to have a positive impact upon underage drinking. This will be achieved by direct, authentic engagement with under 18s through a comprehensive package of educational, personal-responsibility and community-led initiatives including online games, mobile downloads and a dedicated website. These will provide young people with instant and personalised education as well as the tools, advice and resources that will enable them to make more informed choices. These initiatives will encourage personal development and focus equally on both the health and societal consequences of choices whilst encouraging a long- and short-term reward system when a responsible approach to alcohol is adopted.

Marketing messages

So what has been tried so far? Leading young people’s charity Kikass consulted hundreds of young people and found that the typical alcohol health-awareness campaign messages focussing on such issues as long-term liver damage did not penetrate young people’s awareness nor speak to their priorities. Young people live for the moment, think of themselves as invincible and struggle to grasp or care about long-term health problems. They strongly associate drinking with having fun and regard official alcohol messages, which they regard as scare-mongering, overly negative, patronising or unrealistic.

Thus, speaking to what does factor as a priority in their lives, in a style which makes sense to them and that offers them choice is vital in order to make an underage responsible-drinking culture effective. Therefore, the key factors that motivate young people to drink need to be closely considered. These are:

• That it is normal, if not expected
• That it is a ‘social lubricant’ and eases awkward situations
• That it stems from curiosity and the natural adolescence propensity towards risk taking
• That it is a relaxant and stress reliever
• That it is a cheap, accessible activity and something to do
• That is the product of peer pressure.

Social-marketing model

One good example of a successful campaign is the ‘Road Crew Project’ in Wisconsin, USA, which has reduced drink-driving and its associated healthcare costs in rural communities.

This project has involved working with local communities and researching nightly routines and what motivates people to drive home after drinking sessions. It was discovered that individuals wanted to relax after work, meet their friends, drink and still get home each night but that in rural towns driving was the only means available of returning home.

Outcomes to assist, encourage and reward improved behavioural changes amongst the target groups (primarily 21–34 year old males) were investigated and the results were used to develop a programme to guide community-planning teams and to provide transport to and from homes and bars.

The central proposition became ‘The Road Crew — Beats Driving’, which separated drivers from their vehicles before they took their first drink. Replacing driver cars with the service of limousines, which went from bar to bar at the individual’s own pace and in their own time, retained the reward of personal freedom and motivated people to choose the transportation services in preference to their former choices. Ultimately, this promoted the benefit of reduced personal risk to themselves and others and reduced drink-driving and alcohol-related accidents.

The Road Crew programme has shown that behaviour changes are possible. Safety is now not only a wise choice but has been made an attractive alternative to the targeted 21–34 year old age group. Even in its early stages, this has proved to be a highly successful campaign. It is estimated that 200 accidents and 10 deaths have been avoided, and there has been no increase in individual alcohol consumption. With drivers willing to pay for the service, the programme became self-sufficient within the first year. In addition, with each alcohol-related accident costing $231,000 and the cost of preventing such an accident costing $4,400, the project has resulted in a total net savings of more than $45mn.

Parents and children

“What society does to its children so will its children do to society” — Cireco

We believe that approaches designed to strengthen families have the potential to prevent alcohol misuse. We want to encourage dialogue between parents and young people and look to programmes that facilitate this.

David Foxcroft, Professor of Health Care Practice, Oxford Brookes University, and Trustee of The Drinkaware Trust, is the author of Strengthening Families Programme: For Parents and Youth 10–14. This evidence-based programme brings parents and their 10–14 year old children together, with the goal of reducing and preventing substance misuse and other problem behaviours in young people. The programme covers a range of topics such as making house rules, encouraging good behaviour, handling peer pressure, building family communication and appreciating family members. This programme has been particularly effective in building parent and youth skills and changing behaviour.

Anheuser-Busch introduced its ‘Family Talk’ programme in the United States in 1990. This initiative helps to prevent underage drinking by encouraging open, honest communication between parents and children. These initiatives are already making an impact.

What about the future?

Social marketing offers techniques which shift present from future, rework the costs of negative behaviour with positive alternatives, increase the immediate rewards system, reduce barriers and ensure that the selected changed-behaviour alternatives fit neatly into the daily-life processes of individuals whatever their relationship with alcohol.

If we approach this by taking small steps of change, such as the way that children initially led the public’s bid to save the environment with school recycling collections and adopt a culture where each person counts, we might bring about a more lasting shift in attitude. If this is combined with a holistic approach including community and education measures and a carrot-and-stick approach, we can bring about relatively small societal shifts that will create longer lasting change.

The media has an important part to play setting role models and portraying the positive as well as negative effects of alcohol in society. The drinks industry also has much to offer towards the goal of positively changing the UK drinking culture. Instead of adopting a culture of blame towards the industry, we can and should utilise the considerable skills of its marketers to educate people so that they can make small changes and enjoy the benefits of responsible drinking whilst minimising harm. In short, we should be encouraging people to want things differently by positive engagement.

Jean Collingwood, Chief Executive, Drinkaware Trust

www.drinkaware.co.uk