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Alcohol project set to shine

March 29, 2011

 

A project in Bolton has been named as one of 14 nationally to be selected for the Health Foundation’s Shine programme.

Each year, the Shine programme focuses on a different aspect of healthcare quality that reflects a key issue facing the UK health service. This year the focus is on finding new approaches that reduce the need for acute hospital care while improving quality and saving money.

The Bolton Relapse Prevention Project is a joint initiative between NHS Bolton, Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust, and d2 Digital by Design.

The initiative is a new way to support people in the post-detox phase of their treatment for alcohol dependency. Many people who have a problem with alcohol successfully overcome their dependency in the short term only to relapse at a later stage. Professionals recognise this as a problem of returning and adjusting to everyday life following the relief of successfully going through detox.

This innovative service uses mobile phone texting including both automated and personalised communication to support patients through their post-detox treatment.

Patients are provided with a mobile phone through which they receive messages of encouragement, reminders of appointments, and asked how they are doing.

They are asked to reply and this then triggers a response that is tailored to fit their mood and needs. For instance, if they reply that they are fine, the service response will be to congratulate them and reinforce their progress. If they reply that they are in danger of drinking again, the response might be to arrange a face-to-face meeting or telephone conversation with a key worker as soon as possible.

By maintaining contact with patients and providing them with a line of direct communication it is hoped that more people will successfully complete their post-detox treatment programme and be able to stay alcohol free long term.

This would also see reduction in demand for other services, such as other health services, the criminal justice system, and welfare agencies.

Debra Malone, Consultant in Public Health at NHS Bolton, said: “We’re really pleased to have been chosen as one of the selected projects.

“The best way to make sure service users successfully adjust to a life without alcohol is to provide them with ongoing support during this difficult period of adjustment.

“However, this is not easy to achieve when the client is back in their own home. Normally there is little or no contact between the service user and the service in the periods between set appointments and it is often during these periods that people can experience stress and be tempted to drink again.

“We hope this project can change that.”

Martin Marshall, Clinical Director and Director of Research and Development, the Health Foundation said: “Ensuring people receive care in the right place for their clinical needs is an important part of providing a high quality and cost effective service. There are many situations where care does not need to be provided in a hospital or inpatient setting; when the experience for service users and carers could be improved by providing care closer to home and at lower cost.

“Shine has been designed to support teams working in the health service to test their ideas to reduce the need for acute hospital care while improving quality and saving money. We aim to generate a new body of learning in this important area, as part of our wider work on how health services can provide better value for money.”