Alcohol

Alcohol1
Did you know that men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units per week? Drinking less than 14 units a week is considered low-risk drinking. It's called "low risk" rather than "safe" because there is no safe drinking level.


Benefits of Cutting Down:


Cutting down on alcohol not only improves your general health, appearance, and mood, but can also positively impact your sleep, relationships and work.

Ask

1. Do you mind if I ask you a question about alcohol?

•This question may be prompted from some verbal or visual prompts i.e. the person has stated that they have a hangover or there is evidence of drinking in the home etc.
 
2. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?

•If the answer given indicates around 4 or more times a week, you may wish to consider asking how many drinks do they have on each of these occasions, explain that unit measures can be quite confusing and offer to explain a simple unit measurement guide
•The principle behind understanding units and applying these to the guideline is important. Essentially, the greater the dose consumed, the greater the chance of unwanted effects
 

 This is one unit...
Alcohol2

The Chief Medical Officers (CMO) guideline for both men and women states that:
•To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
•If you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it's best to spread your drinking evenly over three or more days
•If you wish to cut down the amount you drink, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days a week
 
Healthcare professionals are advised to use the questions within the FAST (alcohol harm assessment tool)

Fast alcohol use screening test

Assist
State some of many benefits to reducing alcohol intake: -
•Save money
•Improved relationships
•Reduce calorie intake/lose weight
•Improved fertility if you are trying for a baby
•Improved sleep
•Reduced risk of injury
•Fewer hangovers
•More alert and higher performing at work
•Reduced risk of high blood pressure
•Reduced risk of cancer
•Reduced risk of liver disease

Act

National Support
Do you think you would benefit from some further support to reduce your drinking to 'lower risk' levels?
•Speak to your GP, a loved one or call Drinkline 0300 123 1110 (Weekdays 9am-8pm and weekends 11am-4pm). The Drinkline service provides free, confidential, accurate and consistent information and advice to callers who are concerned about their own or someone else's drinking regardless of the caller's age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or spirituality.
•The 'One You' drinks tracker app makes it easy to keep an eye on the booze and take control with daily tips and feedback
•NHS Better Health have a 'Drink Free Days' app and tips on how to reduce alcohol assumption
•Mutual Aid services including twelve step programmes and Smart Recovery are available to anyone who wants support to address their drug or alcohol use. You can find a meeting here: -
?Alcoholics Anonymous https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/
?Narcotics Anonymous https://online.ukna.org/

Self Care

Further tips on cutting down
•Make a plan
?Before you start drinking, set a limit on how much you're going to drink
•Set a budget
?Only take a fixed amount of money to spend on alcohol
•Let them know
?If you let your friends and family know you're cutting down and it's important to you, you could get support from them
•Take it a day at a time
?Cut back a little each day. That way, every day you do is a success
•Make it a smaller one
?You can still enjoy a drink, but go for smaller sizes. Try bottled beer instead of pints, or a small glass of wine instead of a large one
•Have a lower-strength drink
?Cut down the alcohol by swapping strong beers or wines for ones with a lower strength (ABV in %). You'll find this information on the bottle
•Stay hydrated
?Have a glass of water before you have alcohol and alternate alcoholic drinks with water or a soft drink
•Alcohol-free alternatives
?Mocktails, alcohol-free beers etc
•Take a break
?Have several drink-free days each week