Effectiveness Bank bulletin 31 July 2015
Effectiveness Bank web site Effectiveness Bank
Supported by  Alcohol Research UK web site   Society for the Study of Addiction web site
Offers a menu of different ways to reduce alcohol-related harm: teaching secondary schoolchildren to drink more safely; improving identification of excessive drinkers on medical wards; extending treatment for dependence; and raising taxes on alcoholic drinks.

The Alcohol and Drug Treatment Matrices: core research selected and explored
Alcohol matrix for alcohol brief interventions and treatment
Drug matrix for harm reduction and treatment in relation to illegal drugs

Should we teach young teens to drink more safely?
As with the original in Australia, an alcohol harm reduction programme for secondary schools in Northern Ireland slowed down growth in drinking and related problems most effectively where most needed – among pupils already engaged in drinking.
Also see overall findings of same study.

Learning by example transforms doctors’ recognition of problem drinking
When an addiction psychiatrist modelled good alcohol assessment practice while accompanying doctors once a week on general medical ward rounds, the result was steeply increased rates of correct diagnosis and referral to treatment.

Alcohol treatment could save 12,000 lives a year in EU
Estimates how many deaths would be prevented by extending effective treatment to up to 40% of dependent drinkers across the European Union. How realistic is the conclusion that in just one year, 12,000 lives could be saved?
Also see hot topic on public health impacts of brief alcohol interventions.

Alcohol taxes fall, deaths rise in Finland
Simulations predicting what might happen are the main indications in the UK of how alcohol price and tax changes affect health, but from Finland we have evidence that how heavily alcohol is taxed really does affect alcohol-related deaths.
Also see hot topic on alcohol pricing policy.

Also added to the Effectiveness Bank
Does physical exercise help prevent or overcome drug use problems?
Opioid maintenance in Taiwan prolongs each patient’s life by eight years
Impact and safety of long-acting naltrexone for heroin dependence
Australian guidance on treating clients with mental health problems

Sent by the Drug and Alcohol Findings Effectiveness Bank to alert you to site updates and UK-relevant evaluations of drug/alcohol interventions. Findings is supported by Alcohol Research UK and the Society for the Study of Addiction and advised by the National Addiction Centre and the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals.