The workplace as an arena for universal alcohol prevention – what can we expect? An evaluation of a short educational intervention

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tinghög, Mimmi Eriksson

Affiliations: Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs (SoRAD), Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: +46 8162424; E-mail: mimmi.eriksson.tinghog@sorad.su.se

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The workplace is repeatedly being referred to as an appropriate arena for alcohol prevention and dissemination of information. Whether the pressure on employers to work with prevention is realistic or if these kinds of measures have any potential in real life is however rarely discussed. An alcohol education at a company in Sweden was to be evaluated in terms of effectiveness and this study reports the findings. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether an alcohol education program provided to all employees at a company in Stockholm, Sweden had any effect on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related knowledge. The increasing pressure on employers to work with alcohol prevention and on the concurrent problems of implementing and evaluating these types of interventions in real life is reviewed. METHODS: Pre- and post-test questionnaires were employed in a quasi-experimental design using a sample of convenience from two companies: one intervention and one control. Data was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA-tests focused on the participants' AUDIT-scores, frequency of binge drinking and alcohol-related knowledge. RESULTS: Significant improvement in the employees' alcohol-related knowledge was shown, but there were no significant effects on alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study confirms most previous findings, but also raises the importance of considering the value of educating all employees and the willingness of employers to initiate preventive measures. Evaluating interventions of this kind is complicated, and it is also difficult to find results showing behavioural change in populations whose alcohol consumption is moderate.

Keywords: Working life, alcohol prevention, education program, risk knowledge, effectiveness

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-131733

Journal: Work, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 543-551, 2014