Citation

Ure C, Burns L, Hargreaves SC, Coffey M, Audrey S, Kenth K, Ardern K, Cook PA. Perspect. Public Health 2020; 140(2): 88-90.

Affiliation

Professor in Public Health, School of Health and Society, University of Salford, Salford, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal Society for Public Health, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1757913919899700

PMID

32204680

Abstract

Globally, harmful drinking results in six deaths every minute.1 The evidence indicates that restricting the availability of alcohol, and early identification and brief advice (IBA) are effective interventions to reduce alcohol harm.2 Furthermore, recent work suggests that there is a need to engage communities in actions to reduce alcohol harm.3 In order to tackle the high social and economic cost of alcohol, estimated to be £1.3 bn per year or £500 per resident,4 the UK city region of Greater Manchester (GM) implemented an innovative programme to reduce alcohol harm in September 2017. This asset- and place- based community development approach6 – called Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) – aims to reduce alcohol harm in specific deprived areas across 10 local authorities.

The CICA programme trains local volunteers within specific communities to become alcohol health champions (AHCs) – the first time to our knowledge that such a role has been established. This article introduces the role of AHCs, talks about who they are, and provides a glimpse into their experiences to date ...

Language: en