Image via Wikipedia
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has made the following recommendations for all health care workers who do not work as specialist alcohol and drug workers.
Role of mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
Should non-specialist health care providers refer alcohol dependent patients and their family members to mutual help groups such as AA?
- Population: patients with alcohol dependence (alcoholism) and their family
- Interventions: AA and similar (or Al-anon or similar for family)
- Comparison:
- other self-help programmes
- care as usual.
- Outcomes measures:
- alcohol consumption risk patterns
- alcohol consumption
- alcohol related harm
- psychosocial functioning.
Recommendations
Evidence-based recommendations for management of alcohol use disorders in non-specialized health settings.
- Non-specialist health care workers should familiarise themselves with locally available mutual help groups (such as AA), and should encourage the alcohol dependent patient to engage with such a group.
- Strength of recommendation: STANDARD
- Non-specialist health care workers should monitor the impact of attending the group on the patient with alcohol dependence.
- Strength of recommendation: STANDARD
- Family members of patients with alcohol dependence should also be encouraged to engage with an appropriate mutual help group for families such as Al-anon.
- Strength of recommendation: STANDARD
From; Evidence Based Recommendations
Explanation of strength of recommendation
A “STANDARD” recommendation is one for which the guideline development group is confident that the recommended course of action may be offered for the majority of patients, but this may not be applicable for many patients.
Policy makers can use standard recommendations as a starting point for further discussions with the stakeholders before deciding to include them in the adapted versions.
-
Related Reading:
