Overview of the Guidelines
This document is to be read in parallel with the updated Review of the Evidence, which provides more detail concerning the evidence base, including references, for the recommendations within these guidelines.
For ease of use, the Guidelines are presented in three separate sections
| Section 1 |
overviews the context of alcohol use in Australia including prevalence, screening, and assessment, and new chapters on models of care and stigma associated with alcohol use treatment. |
| Section 2 |
overviews interventions and treatments for alcohol use, including brief in-person interventions, withdrawal management, psychosocial interventions, pharmacotherapies, support groups and programs, and a new chapter on e-health interventions. |
| Section 3 |
overviews treatment for specific populations, including adolescents and young people, pregnant and breastfeeding women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from other cultures, older people, cognitively impaired patients, those with comorbidities (polydrug, mental health, physical), sexuality diverse individuals, and gender-specific issues. |
One of the challenges of preparing a review such as this is the selection of treatment categories. Since it is not always possible to divide treatments into discrete categories, readers may find that there is some overlap between treatment categories. For example, motivational interviewing is a key component in Brief Interventions (Chapter 6) and Psychosocial Interventions (Chapter 9) and features in both chapters albeit tailored to each context. When overlaps occur, we have cross-referenced other chapters.
To help prioritise the content of these guidelines, a needs analysis was conducted with a range of health professionals (general practitioners, hospital-based workers, alcohol and drug workers and community counsellors). An overview of this procedure and results are described in the appendix of the Review of the Evidence. Points arising from this process led to a greater focus on stigma, cognitive impairment, and a reduced focus on epidemiology. Additional resources were also created, such as a dedicated website for the Guidelines. There are a number of additional changes that have been made to the Guidelines in order to adhere to the most recent standards for guideline development (NHMRC, 2019 see the Evidence Review for more information).