A qualitative study of clinicians and patients exploring how alcohol brief interventions can be better embedded in routine general practice
Year: 2020
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Background: Alcohol brief interventions (BIs) involve assessing a person’s alcohol use and offering individualised advice to reduce health risks. Yet, despite their proven effectiveness, clinicians do not routinely offer brief interventions for alcohol use in daily practice. Aim/Objectives: To identify factors that influence whether alcohol BIs are used in consultations from the perspective of clinicians and patients. Methods: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and focus groups (face-to-face and virtual) of primary care clinicians working in the greater Melbourne metropolitan region and patients from across Australia. Field notes were made from audio-recordings and themes were identified using a matrix based on the question structure. Findings: Thirty-nine GPs, 9 practice nurses and 16 patients participated. Barriers were identified at multiple levels of the healthcare system and across the general community including Australian drinking norms; inconsistent public health messaging around alcohol harm; patients not identifying general practice as a place to go for help; community stigma; general practice culture around preventive health; limitations of clinical software and current patient resources. Identified facilitators for embedding BIs in daily practice included: (1) raising community awareness of the health harms of alcohol; (2) building a practice culture around prevention; and (3) supportive resources to facilitate discussion about alcohol use and strategies to reduce intake. Implications: We have identified factors at multiple levels of the healthcare system that influence the successful implementation of alcohol BIs in general practice. We will now develop an intervention for increasing clinician uptake of BIs in daily general practice.
Source: Griffith Research Online
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3104416078