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Issue #12 June - July 2014 |
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In this
edition:
Tena koutou Your challenge –
find one piece of new information in this newsletter and share it with one
other person today! In these times with so much electronic information, it’s
easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of communications you receive on a
daily basis. However - the shift to a paperless society means that we can
also miss out on important information more easily too. These e-newsletters
are designed to provide you with a brief update with the opportunity to link
to more detailed information. This edition features a number of free online learning resources which you can access
at any time to increase your knowledge and skill set. Meantime, get ready for Dry July and try giving
your body a rest from alcohol for a month. Better still – get some mates to
join you. You might surprise yourself with the experience. J Mauri
ora, Dave Hookway Health Promotion Advisor - Alcohol and other Drugs – Northland DHB |
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In this
Issue:
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Flaunting
it on Facebook: Young adults, drinking cultures and the cult of celebrity.
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Dry
July – Clear you head, make a difference!
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NEW – ABC Alcohol on-line
learning module.
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Managing Your Own Withdrawal: A Guide for People Trying to Stop
Using Drugs and or Alcohol
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NEW – Safer drinking guidelines resources.
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Alcohol NZ – your quick update on new law changes.
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New evidence on minimum
alcohol pricing.
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'Big Alcohol, Big Tobacco, Big Influence' - video presentations.
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PotHelp - a new online resource
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Planning for International FASD Day – 9th
September.
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Need more help?
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Flaunting it on Facebook: Young adults, drinking cultures and the cult of celebrity.
Key findings show that social technologies play a crucial role in young adults’ drinking cultures and processes of identity construction. Consuming alcohol to a point of intoxication was a commonplace leisure-time activity for most of the young adult participants, and social network technologies were fully integrated into their drinking cultures. Crucially, many rangatahi did not see themselves as direct targets of online alcohol marketing (despite engaging with alcohol brand sites and friending them on Facebook). Alcohol companies recognise this and increasingly employ social media (and devote increasingly large percentages of their budgets) for digital marketing to young people. Participants also showed very little awareness of the amount of personal information they gave away with every ‘like’ or interaction with an alcohol page on Facebook. This personal information is used by drinks companies to engage in more sophisticated and personally targeted campaigns. Read or download the report here. |
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Dry July – Clear you head, make a difference!
Taking part in Dry July gives you the chance to also focus on yourself – notice your own drinking habits and the value of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. It helps you get healthy and clear your head while also raising funds for an important cause. Dry July improves the wellbeing of adult cancer patients by providing funds to create better services and environments for them and their families. Last year this campaign raised
around $400,000 for the Northern region, of which $30,000 came directly to
Northland. The rest went towards regional services, such as the bone marrow
unit and radiation oncology treatment, which Northlanders utilise. The
$30,000 contribution to Northland is going towards the purchase of treatment
chairs for our new oncology unit. If you’d like to sign up, click here. |
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NEW – ABC
Alcohol on-line learning module.
Harmful drinking is a major avoidable risk factor and the ABC Alcohol approach has been adopted to identify and provide brief advice to patients who engage in harmful drinking. The ABC approach provides a systematic approach to recording alcohol status and brief advice by integrating the ABC approach into the everyday practice of all primary health care workers, as it was originally developed for smoking cessation.
A: Ask B: Brief advice C: Counselling Now - a new online learning module is now available free of charge for health practitioners, and is designed to raise awareness of alcohol-related harm in NZ, and promote the ABC Alcohol approach. The new module provides training and support to ensure competency in providing screening, brief advice and referrals for patients with hazardous or harmful alcohol behaviours. The course is available at here under 'New Courses' and the 'Featured Courses' sections. Completion of the course earns CME credits. |
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NEW – Safer drinking guidelines resources.
New resources have been produced by Northland DHB to promote greater awareness of current long-term safer drinking guidelines. The new folded pocket resources provide information on what constitutes a standard drink – important for engaging patients in discussion of their drinking habits. They also inform current recommended standard drink limits to reduce both long-term health risks and the risk of injury. Larger fridge magnets reinforce the standard drinks message of “How much am I drinking?” for clients.
Folded pocket resource
Fridge Magnet
Click here to order your copies if these resources. Please include your name, organisation, delivery details and quantity required. |
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Alcohol NZ –
your quick update on new law changes.
· Limits of the supply of alcohol to minors, · New maximum default trading hours, · Opportunity to develop and implement Local Alcohol Policies, · Stricter provisions on the promotion of alcohol and on discounting, · New on-the-spot fines, · Conditions on the sale of alcohol, and · A new definition of “intoxicated”. To help you better understand these changes, a new publication from the Health Promotion Agency - AlcoholNZ – is available to help clarify the new Act. It also provides evidence-based articles, topical commentaries, and summaries of new alcohol-related research and guidelines to update readers’ knowledge and inform debate about alcohol issues in New Zealand. Click on the link or the picture to download your copy. |
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New evidence
on minimum alcohol pricing.
Their findings also concluded that
individuals in the lowest
socioeconomic group would accrue 81·8% of reductions in premature deaths and
87·1% of gains in terms of quality-adjusted life-years. New
Zealand commentators believe the importance of The Lancet paper for New Zealand is that it
demonstrates how the policy is likely to play out if the purchasing patterns
of UK drinkers are similar to NZ. The 2012 survey of NZ alcohol purchasing
patterns commissioned by the Ministry of Health (click here to request a copy) showed the
heaviest drinkers did buy more low cost alcohol in NZ, although as expected,
this was not exclusively the case. |
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'Big Alcohol, Big Tobacco, Big Influence' - video presentations.According to the World Health
Organisation, the diseases of unhealthy behaviours linked to tobacco, alcohol
and obesogenic diets are the global health challenge of the 21st century. The
Public Policy Team at the University of Southampton have now released videos
from a recent symposium titled 'Big Alcohol, Big Tobacco, Big Influence:
New vectors for global diseases’ which
examined some of the ways in which commercial interests have influenced
policy and implications arising from this. Click on the pictures to watch the
presentations.
Right: Dr Sarah Wollaston MP,
Member of the Health Select Committee and MP for Totnes - on Evidence and strategy in alcohol
politics. |
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PotHelp - a new online resource.
A new online website has been set up by the NZ Drug Foundation and funded by the
Ministry of Health to help “pot” users cut back or quit. PotHelp features compelling stories from people
about the highs and lows of their cannabis use and their journey through
treatment. “The stories are from gutsy New Zealanders who stepped forward to
share their experience, insight and hope on how they have successfully
tackled dependency on cannabis or are somewhere near beginning that journey,”
says Drug Foundation Executive Director Ross Bell. “People who are serious about cutting back
or giving up cannabis will be able to work their way through the PotHelp
online therapy with the support of these stories.”
·
Honest
accounts of the process of giving up pot, ·
An
online treatment programme to help change their life for the
better, ·
Contact
details for a number of New Zealand organisations ready to help achieve
freedom from drug dependence. The online therapy tool was
designed by addiction treatment specialists. Check out the website for more information. |
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Planning
for International FASD Day – 9th September.
Organisation is again underway for this year’s
International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Day - FASD Day for short! Building on the
success of a Health and community workers are keen to reach the 1
in 4 mums who despite current Ministry of health guidelines, continue to put
their unborn child at risk of a range of developmental and mental
disbilities, commonly framed under the term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
It has been estimated that up to 6 in 100 children born may suffer the
harmful effects due to their mother’s consumption of alchol during pregnancy.
Held on September 9th, events are
currently planned for Whangarei, Kaitaia, Kaikohe, and the Hokianga. If you
would like to host your own local event, contact here for more information. |
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Need more help?If you are concerned about your own drinking or that of
someone close to you, contact the free Alcohol Drug Helpline
on 0800-787-797 from 10am to
10pm or visit www.addictionshelp.org.nz.
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Compiled and produced by: Dave Hookway - Health Promotion Advisor - Alcohol and other Drugs Northland District Health Board - 55 Hobson Ave, Kerikeri Postal address: - PO Box 906, Kerikeri 0230, Bay of Islands ( Ph (09) 430-4101 x 7895 | Mob 021-221-4027 or Freephone 0800-537-4342 option #3 Click here to email Subscribe (Get regular updates sent to you each month) Unsubscribe (Stop getting regular updates)
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A new NZ
research project has explored the ways in which new technologies are being
used by a range of young people (and others, including marketers) in drinking
practices and drinking cultures. It also explored how these technologies
impact on the behaviours and identities of rangatahi, and how this varies
across young adults of diverse ethnicities, social classes and genders.
Despite
the Government recently rejecting a minimum pricing policy for alcohol, a new
study published in 
.