Alcohol training in south-east England: a survey and evaluation

In 1982, the University of Kent at Canterbury introduced a multi-disciplinary diploma course in alcohol counselling and consultation. The purpose of the report which follows is to assess the existing range and level of alcohol services and training in south-east England against which the course was set up, and to appraise the course itself against its aims and objectives. The first part of the study was based on a questionnaire survey of senior administrators in Health and Social Services in London and the South East, and the examination of the course was based on student progress. The results from the first part of the study are bleak. Respondents believed that the majority of clients with alcohol problems were simply not detected, and a lack of resources to mount satisfactory training schemes was among the principal reasons. Only a minority of the organizations provided secondary-level training of any sort, and the majority placed alcohol problems at the bottom of their priorities for training and, by implication, for services overall. The results from the second part of the study were more encouraging. While there was little to suggest that students' knowledge and attitudes changed during the course, there were a number of small changes in behaviour. The most hopeful findings, however, came from students' and managers' perceptions, where one of the most positive outcomes of the course was a perceived growth in student maturity, confidence, and role security.