On the 21st October 2011, a joint Alcohol Academy and Balance event was held for alcohol leads in the North East. Selected presentations are made available below. The event, 'New Times, New Challenges', aimed to explore some of the key issues and subjects relevant to effective alcohol harm reduction at local and regional level.

New Directions in the Study of Alcohol Group (NDSAG) has announced its 2012 conference which will explore 21 years of experience and the future for motivational interviewing.

The conference will include a keynote from Professor Stephen Rollnick, author of 'Behaviour Change: a guide for health care professionals' and co-author with Bill Miller of the seminal 'Motivational Interviewing'.

Research has been commissioned to gain an insight into the prevalence of alcohol consumption among city workers and identify segments within this community who can, and should, be targeted with public health information about risks associated with consuming alcohol. The main outcome will be a report of publishable standard which will review and summarise the findings and provide expert recommendations.

For further information, download the Insight into City drinkers summary brief.doc or the Employers FAQs.pdf.

A briefing paper has been released exploring the barriers and challenges to implementing routine alcohol brief interventions (or 'IBA') across England. The paper also explores whether the 'lifestyles agenda' - a wider focus on all health behaviours - offers an opportunity or threat to mainstreaming alcohol brief interventions.

Download the report 'Brief interventions: achieving widespread delivery? Opportunities and challenges for the further delivery of alcohol ‘Identification & Brief Advice’ (IBA) across England'  [pdf]

The North London alcohol hub, funded by the Regional Public Health Group, delivered an alcohol workplace project which included a feasability study into alcohol brief interventions (IBA) within the workplace.

The Alcohol Academy were funded to train hundreds of workplace roles in alcohol awareness and IBA, provide support to organisations, and join a PPRE led Action Learning Set for steering group members. An independent evaluation was carried out by Middlesex University.

NICE have now produced alcohol commissioning guidance to support the attainment of the alcohol quality standard.

17.5 hours per week, London

£20,529 pro rata, 1 year fixed term contract

Brief interventions: pushing forward to achieve widespread delivery: A symposium to explore and develop opportunities for the further delivery of ‘Identification & Brief Advice’ (IBA) across England

The New Directions in the Sudy of Alcohol Group 2011 annual conference addresses 'Big Drinking and the Big Society: Inequality and alcohol problems – are we really all in this together? It takes place from Thursday 14th nd – Sunday 17thth April in Lancaster.

The AERC Alcohol Academy, in partnership with the Department of Health West Midlands, delivered a symposium 'Home drinking: repsonding to a shift in consumption' on the 2nd December 2010 in Birmingham.