resources : newsletter archive : book reviews 2002

Book Reviews

2002 Volume 21, Issue no. 5

Prevention and reduction of alcohol misuse: Evidence briefing
Waller S, Naidoo B and Thom B
2002 London: Health Development Agency
ISBN 1-84279-098-6

This short booklet with 36 A4 pages is the first of a series of reviews to be published by the Health Development Agency on important public health issues and is part of a process intended to develop an evidence base for effective interventions. The interventions considered are drink driving, taxation and price, regulation of sales and licensing, community safety interventions such as server training, controlling the promotion of alcohol, campaigns to promote responsible drinking, alcohol education in schools, brief interventions in hospitals and primary care, workplace alcohol programmes and community action on alcohol projects. In addition to summarising the evidence on each intervention the document discusses gaps in the research evidence, recommendations for research and policy implications. Inevitably it is not possible to devote more than a few paragraphs to each topic and while admiring the breadth of coverage most people will probably feel that their pet issue has not been adequately covered.

The booklet should be viewed as the tip of an evidence iceberg rather than the whole product and much more of the underlying work is to be found at www.hda-online.org.uk/evidence. The briefing was produced by the systematic review process now well established in health care literature and has all the strengths and the weaknesses of that process. In all 2012 review papers published between 1996 and 2001 were identified, of which 92 were selected for critical appraisal , of which 64 were selected for inclusion in the briefing. The authors would probably be the first to agree that insistence on narrow rules of evidence and measured outcomes can exclude useful insights and a view of prevention based solely on the content of this evidence briefing would be incomplete. Despite these health warnings this document is a very useful contribution to the field. If a policy maker, manager or practitioner wanted to update their knowledge of the evidence for prevention and reduction of alcohol misuse in three hours reading this booklet would be a very good way of doing so.

John Kemm
Public Health Physician, Birmingham

2002 Volume 21, Issue no. 3

Counselling for Alcohol problems
Richard Velleman
Published London; Sage Publications
ISBN 0-7619-6579-3 pp 224
Price £15.99

This is an excellent book is one of a series covering the application of counselling skills, methods and knowledge to a variety of problem areas. It is certainly not a generalist book or a medical book on alcohol issues. It is a book for skilled cognitive behavioural counselling practitioners on working with problem drinkers.

The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with the understanding of alcohol problems and the variety of therapeutic approaches. The author makes clear that he has little time for a medical or other unitary model of "alcoholism". Rather he outlines the view that in a drinking society a high proportion of people are liable to encounter alcohol difficulties, for a variety of reasons mainly concerning their vulnerability and life circumstances. He also outlines the range of services to help problem drinkers.

The main section deals in some detail with the application of counselling to problem drinkers. There is a section on the organisation of counselling and its division into stages. The themes of raising the topic of drinking, assessment of drinkers and dealing with withdrawal, craving and issues concerning relapse are covered. There is discussion of the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions. This includes the largest study to date, Project Match, which showed considerable benefit from the three methods investigated, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy and 12 Step Facilitation.

A final section covers a collection of discrete topics. One is on dealing with clients who have dual diagnoses or multiple problems and concluded that working with such clients can be as successful as working with alcohol as a single problem. Another topic deals with some of the myths in the field such as " all alcoholics are liars" or "one can't work with people unless they have reached the bottom". There is also a useful short discussion of working with the relatives of problem drinkers.

This second edition of the book first published in 1992 includes new material and some new topic areas but retains the main themes. Overall this is a good specialist book for the counsellor already well trained and experienced in cognitive behavioural methods, who wants to apply their skills to work with problem drinkers.

Hugh Norris
Former Director of Aquarius, Birmingham

Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households, 2000
Singleton N, Bumpstead R, O'Brien M, Lee A, Meltzer H
Published London: The Stationery Office 2002
ISBN 0116214805 pp 164
Price £35.00
www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/psychmorb.pdf

Reliable data on population prevalence of psychiatric conditions are extremely difficult to obtain. This report describes the results of a survey carried out in 2000 by the Social Survey Division of the Office of National Statistics using sound statistical sampling methods and well defined diagnostic criteria. The survey was a repeat of a survey carried out in 1993 using the same methods. It includes information on the frequency of hazardous drinking based on responses to the AUDIT instrument and frequency of alcohol dependency based on responses to the SADQ instrument. This report makes a very useful addition to our knowledge of the prevalence of alcohol problems.

John Kemm
Public Health Physician, Birmingham

return to the Alcoholis archive

last modified: 15th October 2002