Although excessive alcohol use is not in any way a geographically isolated health problem, a report released in 2013 revealed that heavy alcohol consumption particularly among the adult population was turning out to be one of the biggest public health issues in the state of Wisconsin (Black & Paltzer, 2013). This paper employs the socio-ecological assessment to demonstrate how the health issue of excessive alcohol consumption influences the social dynamics of the adult population in Wisconsin.
Excessive alcohol consumption represents major social problems for the adult population in Wisconsin in terms of addictions, dependence due to loss of productivity, absenteeism, increase in neighbourhood crime, traffic accidents, violence, incarceration of perpetrators, family-related violence, and additional social costs related to fetal alcohol syndrome (Black & Paltzer, 2013). The Global Status Report on Alcohol demonstrates that such social problems affect individuals and communities other than the heavy alcohol consumers, not mentioning that these problems have the capacity to ignite entrenched economic consequences (World Health Organization, 2004).
The indicators related to excessive alcohol consumption among the stated group of the population are many and varied. In 2011, for instance, excessive alcohol consumption in the state of Wisconsin “resulted in approximately 1529 deaths, 48,578 hospitalisations, 46,583 treatment admissions, 60,221 arrests, and 5,751 motor vehicle accidents” (Black & Paltzer, 2013 p. 1). Additionally, as acknowledged by Black and Paltzer (2013), Wisconsin has over the years reported high incidences of binge alcohol consumption among its adult male population and a high rate of alcohol consumption among pregnant women.
In relating to the interconnections as practiced in the socio-ecological assessment, it is a well known fact that excessive alcohol consumption is a recipe for several health-related issues, such as mortality arising from liver cirrhosis, specialty care for abuse/dependence, hospitalisations for alcohol-related diseases, fetal alcohol syndrome, nursing home costs, and training of substance abuse and mental health professionals. Other health and social issues include lost productivity, absenteeism, traffic-related casualties, family members affected by failure to fulfil social obligations, and occurrence of violence in the family.
In explaining how health behaviours within the mentioned population contribute to the observed risks, it is important to note that excessive consumption of alcohol may lead to liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular disease, poor judgment, violence, child abuse and neglect, acute alcohol dependency, and job loss (Laslett, Room, Dietze, & Feiris, 2012). These behaviours can be directly linked to the risks observed among heavy drinkers in Wisconsin. For example, excessive consumption of alcohol in Wisconsin has been noted to trigger several health-related conditions such as liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease and cancer, which have in turn led to death, hospitalisations, and treatment admissions. Additionally, excessive alcohol use by pregnant mothers has led to enhanced opportunities for fetal alcohol syndrome.
Alcohol dependency, which is an offshoot of excessive alcohol consumption, has been noted to lead to behaviours such as child abuse and neglect, poor dietary habits and absenteeism among the adult population in Wisconsin. Such risky behaviours have in turn led to incarceration, frequent hospitalisations, burden to other family or community members, loss of productivity, and even death. Another risky behaviour related to excessive consumption of alcohol is poor judgment, which is blamed for high number of arrests and motor vehicle accidents reported in Wisconsin according to the figures indicated above (Black & Paltzer, 2013). Poor judgment has also perpetuated certain risk-related behaviours such as highway speeding and driving without wearing safety belts, leading to injuries and death. Lastly, it cannot escape mention that both alcohol dependency and poor judgment, caused by excessive consumption of alcohol among the adult population in Wisconsin, have been directly linked to incidences of violence in the family, workplace problems, poverty, and failure by victims to actively fulfil social role obligations (Black & Paltzer, 2013).
References
Black, P., & Paltzer, J. (2013). The burden of excessive alcohol use in Wisconsin. Web.
Laslett, A.M., Room, R., Dietze, P., & Feiris, J. (2012). Alcohol’s involvement in recurrent child abuse and neglect cases. Addiction, 107(10), 1786-1793.
World Health Organization. (2004).Global status report on Alcohol 2004. Web.