Alcohol Advice and Information for Male Remand Prisoners
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) for male remand prisoners: an MRC complex intervention framework development and feasibility study
IRAS ID
196284
Contact name
Aisha Holloway
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
There are just over 90,000 prisoners in UK prisons with 20% accounting for those on remand. The impact of harmful alcohol use impacts significantly not only in relation to individual health, but also to the wider community and society as a whole. We know that a large number of remand prisoners can have high rates of alcohol problems when compared with the general population. Remand prisoners are those who can be unconvicted or convicted and unsentenced. They spend on average of 9 weeks held in custody awaiting trial and/or sentencing. This makes it difficult for them to access regular prison based alcohol services and receive interventions or treatment. We also know that brief alcohol advice in the form of an Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) can be effective in achieving a reduction in alcohol consumption in certain health care settings. Prison offers an opportunity for the identification, response and/or referral to treatment those remand prisoners who are consuming alcohol above recommended levels. There is limited evidence for the effectiveness, optimum timing of delivery, recommended length, content, implementation and economic benefit of ABIs in the prison setting for remand prisoners.
We wish to develop an ABI that is acceptable for delivery to male remand prisoners who have been identified as drinking alcohol at a level that is or has caused them harm. The study will also measure how feasible it is to deliver this intervention in the prison setting to male remand prisoners and by whom. We will do this through a prisoner survey and in-depth interviews with male remand prisoners and key stakeholders in 1 Scottish and 1 English prison. Data gathered will be used to refine an acceptable ABI that is feasible to deliver.REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
16/SS/0009
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion