Introduction
The selected behavioral risk factor from the healthy people 2020 objectives is binge drinking. Binge drinking is a serious issue that leads to complications, comorbidities, and fatal outcomes, as well as auto-crashes (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). The paper aims to examine what strategies can help make the health promotion program effective.
Binge Drinking as Behavioral Risk Factor
Binge drinking is defined as the consumption of four or five drinks in a row (Bartoli et al., 2014). Adults and adolescents become binge drinkers because alcohol helps them feel confident, reduce anxiety, and avoid or forget about social pressures. According to Caldwell, Gerbino, Mira, Rosenthal, and Silva (2016), Minnesota has the 5th highest rate of binge drinking in the USA, and approximately 1,257 deaths per year happen in Minnesota due to heavy alcohol use.
Furthermore, approximately 21% of violent crimes in this state are related to alcohol consumption. Approximately 30.2% of men and 17.3% of women in Minnesota are binge drinkers (Caldwell et al., 2016). Of all motor vehicle accidents in Minnesota, 24% were due to alcohol consumption; 2.040 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes (Caldwell et al., 2016). As can be seen, binge drinking has a serious impact on the health of Minnesota citizens, leading to injuries and car crashes. The high rate of Minnesota regarding binge drinking compared to other states indicates that a health promotion campaign is needed.
Downstream Stage
Patient health education and cognitive-behavioral interventions can be suggested as means to address the issue. Patient education can include teaching binge drinkers about the consequences of frequent alcohol consumption, dangers of being on the road while drunk, and possible comorbidities or other negative factors such as drug abuse, household violence, or unplanned pregnancies (Caldwell et al., 2016).
According to Riper et al. (2014), cognitive behavioral therapy is effective when treating alcohol addiction and subsequent comorbidities such as depression. In this case, cognitive-behavioral interventions have a better impact on depression than on the alcohol consumption at first, which is labeled as “the sleeper effect” because drinkers learn cognitive and relapse skills that they can apply later. While patient education would draw patients’ attention to more common safety rules and prevention methods, cognitive-behavioral interventions will work with their psychological issues related to their addiction. Such a double-sided approach can increase the program’s effectiveness.
Midstream Stage
For the midstream stage, health plan-based primary care screening/intervention is suggested as an effective tool for managing binge drinking because it helps identify binge drinkers who were reluctant or unwilling to report about their problem. Such screening tests as CAGE or Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) can be used by nurses to determine whether the patient needs further help in overcoming their addiction. This intervention is more effective than others suggested by Knickman and Kovner (2015) because it helps identify binge drinkers and targets them directly, while community-based interventions or prevention activities are diffused and might be ignored by binge drinkers who are unable to ask for help or are in denial about their condition.
Upstream Stage
National public education and media campaigns can increase awareness of the impact of binge drinking on national health. The findings of the study conducted by Huo and Wang (2014) demonstrate that the rate of awareness programs grows at a rate “proportional to the number of heavy drinkers”, and awareness programs were effective in reducing alcohol problems in binge and heavy drinkers (p. 1).
National public education can address issues with alcohol that adolescents and young adults experience while studying at school or college/university. At the same time, media campaigns can be directed to families with binge drinkers and drinkers themselves, spreading information about hospitals, prevention methods, and screenings that can help individuals with alcohol problems. Thus, both current and potential binge drinkers will be targeted by this intervention.
References
Bartoli, F., Carretta, D., Crocamo, C., Schivalocchi, A., Brambilla, G., Clerici, M., & Carrà, G. (2014). Prevalence and correlates of binge drinking among young adults using alcohol: A cross-sectional survey. BioMed Research International, 1, 1-7.
Caldwell, J., Gerbino, K., Mira, C., Rosenthal, J., & Silva, T. (2016). Minnesota action on alcohol: Curbing excessive alcohol use in Minnesota. Web.
Huo, H. F., & Wang, Q. (2014). Modelling the influence of awareness programs by media on the drinking dynamics. Abstract and Applied Analysis, 1, 1-8.
Knickman, J. R., & Kovner, A. R. (Eds.). Health and behavior. In J. R. Knickman & A. R. Kovner, Health care delivery in the United States (11th ed., pp. 119–144). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Riper, H., Andersson, G., Hunter, S. B., Wit, J., Berking, M., & Cuijpers, P. (2014). Treatment of comorbid alcohol use disorders and depression with cognitive‐behavioural therapy and motivational interviewing: A meta‐analysis. Addiction, 109(3), 394-406.