Alcohol Awareness for Parenting Professionals

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Alcohol Awareness for Parenting Professionals
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Possible harm

• Being drunk more often
• Taking day off for hangover
• Accidents, rows or injuries due to drink
• Getting in trouble due to drink
• Doing something you wouldnt do normally and
  regretting it
• Drinking more than you planned

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Probable harm

• Obsessive thinking
• Gulping first drink
• Being first to finish
• Needing, not choosing a drink
• Spending more than you can afford

• Secret drinking
• Hiding drink evidence
• People telling you they are worried

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Dependence ICD 10

• Tolerance
• Preoccupation with alcohol
• Use despite harm

• Sense of compulsion
• Impaired capacity to control use and amount
• Withdrawal states (nausea, shakes etc)

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Aspects of alcohol-related problems
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7 aspects of family life affected

• Roles
• Rituals
• Routines
• Social life

• Finances
• Communication
• Conflict
• (Velleman, 1993)

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Parenting impacts on children (1)

• Emotional unavailability and inconsistency
• Unpredictable parental behaviour
• Social exclusion

• Too much responsibility
• Child as ally, protector or carer
• dont talk, dont trust, dont feel

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Parenting impacts on children (2)

• Witness or experience physical,verbal and sexual
  abuse
• Self blame

• Long term effects into adulthood
• Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

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Protective factors for children

• Resilience
• High self esteem
• Self efficacy
• Problem solving skills
• At least one good parent relationship
• Good support network beyond family

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The Cycle of Change (Prochaska and DiClimente)
Pre-contemplation
 
Contemplation
Action
Maintenance
Relapse
Success
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Barriers to treatment (concrete)

• Lack of awareness from families
• The need to keep the secret
• Lack of service provision

• Lack of interagency communication
• Parental consent lacking
• Insufficient resources

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Barriers to treatment (conceptual)

• Use and misuse a cultural norm
• Perception of children not neglected enough for
  intervention

• Opening up the problem floodgates if alcohol
  tackled
• Individualistic treatment approaches

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FRAMES for Brief Advice

• Feedback about personal risk or impairment
• Responsibility for change (rests with the
  individual)
• Advice
• Menu of options and strategies for change
• Empathy
• Self-efficacy

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Types of Brief Advice

• Information re alcohol other issues (e.g.units
  and health issues)
• Advice giving
• Realistic feedback

• Unit tally
• Empathy support
• Encouragement
• Referral