A research proposal : Are brief interventions useful harm minimisation strategy for Australian University students

1. Are brief alcohol interventions useful harm
minimisation strategy for Australian university
students? A randomised control trial
An example of a research proposal
Dr Gargi Sinha

2. Before we start…..
This document is written for
completion of an assignment
in the unit of Research
Proposal and Preparation
and Research Methods at
School of Medical and Health
Sciences, Edith Cowan
University, Western Australia

3. Content
Context of study
Literature Review
Research Question
Theoretical Framework
Methodology
Ethical consideration
Appendix and references

4. Strength and limitation Analysis
Strengths
first to integrate university
setting, harm minimisation
and brief intervention for
Australian university
students
Limitations
Recruiting sample from a
single Australian university
may raise the question of
generalizability.

5. Context
Magnitude of the problem
Excessive consumption of alcohol among university students is a challenging public health
problem in Australia
Alcohol-related problem contributes significantly to acute hospital admission and costs
the health system (NSW Ministry of Health, 2015).
In 2014-15, approximately,70,000 patients presented to emergency department of
Australia for alcohol-induced problems (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016a).

6. How university students are more vulnerable towards
the harm of alcohol
Issues of young people
• Alcohol consumption is estimated to cause
road traffic accidents, violence and
derailment of the career in the young
population (Scott-Parker, Watson, King, &
Hyde, 2014; Snowden & Pridemore, 2014).
Researchers indicated that young
generation in the university uses alcohol for
both to socialise and to spend their idle
time (Leontini et al., 2015). These studies
identified a variety of factors which
amalgamated with harmful consumption of
alcohol by the university students.
Issues of university students
• the legal age of purchasing alcohol for 18
years coincides with the start of academic
studies at university in Australia (Leontini et
al., 2015). Additionally, peer pressure,
adjustment towards a new course and
residing alone and away from the family
also instrumental for the young generation
to indulge in heavy alcohol use (Rinker &
Neighbours, 2013).

7. Areas for further research
Literature suggests :
despite risk factors, there are a limited
number of strategies adopted by the
universities to reduce the harmful effect of
alcohol (Shop, Brooks, & Schooley, 2015).
University students are at risk of consuming
harmful level at one time because of peer
pressure or lack of knowledge about binge
drinking (Rickwood et al., 2011).
However, there is a notable gap is present in
the research area for university population.

8. How it will contribute to the new knowledge
of existing evidence
Unlike aged and chronic drinker, those who require
pharmacological treatment under the supervision of
a specialist, the young alcohol user often need early
intervention and support. .
It is well established that brief early intervention has
a role in preventing the harm caused by alcohol
(McClatchey, Boyce, & Dombrowski, 2015). A brief
intervention is a short conversation in an evidence-
based way, with a person about a health issue in a
non-confrontational manner.

9. Literature review
Young et al. (2006) argued that drinking behaviour of
university students governed by other interrelated
outcomes such as socialisation and relaxation.
Similarly, Rickwood et al. (2011) revealed that
Australian University students experienced a range of
problem due to alcohol including unwanted sexual
involvement, physical violence and accidents.
Additionally, university students are not confident to
refuse drink which aggravates the problem of binge
drinking. Hence, university students inevitably faced
with a situation where they experience social pressure
to drink.
Young et al. (2006) proposed that focused intervention
of alcohol for university setting would benefit the
university student’s alcohol problem. Therefore, brief
intervention can assist university student to minimise
the harm of alcohol and keep the level of drink at a
safe limit.

10. Why do we need to do a brief intervention in a
university setting
The current trend for brief
intervention utilises a
combination of screening and
intervention. While the
general practitioner usually
provides brief intervention,
however, there is reasonable
evidence which suggests that
this intervention can be
sufficiently delivered by
trained people such as the
pharmacist, nurse (Fitzgerald,
Molloy, MacDonald, &
McCambridge, 2015).
Moreover, research also
suggests that there are heaps
of barrier while concentrating
on providing brief
intervention for young people
in primary health care setting
(Johnson et al., 2011).
-for more info…List location or contact for specification (or other related documents)

11. A pragmatic approach to harm minimisation strategies
Concerning the alcohol consumption by the university students, many
evidence empirically support harm minimisation strategies (Cousins,
Connor, & Kypri, 2014; Wachtel & Staniford, 2010).
Firstly, total absenteeism of
alcohol seems to an unrealistic
goal because of cultural and social
acceptance of alcohol in Australia
(Hernandez et al., 2013).
Secondly, university students are
usually not chronic alcoholics and
don't view consuming alcohol as a
problem (Morton & Tighe, 2011).

12. Principles of harm minimisation strategies
Demand
reduction
• Prevent
uptake
• Delay the use
alcohol
Supply
reduction
• reduce
• Remove
supply alcohol
Harm
reduction
• Reduce harm
to self
• community

13. Analysis of brief intervention and harm minimisation
in a university setting
there are several limitations for alcohol discussion with the General Practitioner. Firstly, in
case patient's symptoms not directly linked to the alcohol, they are often not at ease with
alcohol enquiry (Tam et al., 2015). Secondly, there is an element of fear and shame involved
in answering the question regarding alcohol by General Practitioner (Tam et al., 2015).
Berends and Lubman (2013) suggested a tailored approach required for timely intervention
of alcohol problem.
Researchers proposed various solutions to the university student’s accessibility problem of
alcohol services in Australia including community clinics, emergency setting and university
health clinics (Berends & Lubman, 2013; Ehrlich, Haque, Swisher-McClure, & Helmkamp,
2006; Helmkamp, Hungerford, Williams, & Manley, 2003).

14. Research question
P-
population
I-
Intervention
C-
comparision
O-
outcome

15. PICO question
Population
(P) -
Australian
University
Students
Intervention
(I)-Brief
alcohol
intervention
Comparison
(C)- With no
brief
intervention
Outcome(O)-
Knowledge
about
reducing the
harm caused
by alcohol

16. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Pre-Contemplative stage -
Individuals at this stage do not
usually consider changing.
Individual often express as 'I enjoy
drinking and doesn't want to
change '.
Contemplative stage-
Individual at this juncture is
aware of the harm of
drinking, however
ambivalent to change.
Preparation stage -Individual at
this stage are prepared to act.
The individual will often express
I am ready to cut down on
alcohol. Goal setting strategies
are useful at this stage.
Action stage- Individual at
this stage, are currently
engaged in attempts to
reduce or stop drinking
Maintenance -stage Individual
at this stage successfully
change drinking behaviour,
however, need strategies for
relapse prevention.
Miller and Rollnick (2002)
elaborate a model developed by
Prochaska and DiClemente which
provide a framework to
understand an individual’s
willingness to change.

17. Appendices
Information Letter to Participants
Informed Consent Document
The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
(AUDIT)

18. Informed consent sample

19. Information letter for participants :sample

20. AUDIT questioner: sample

21. For full proposal
 Please visit
https://publichealthtips.co/research-proposal-example-alcohol-brief-
intervention-and-harm-minimisation/

22. References

23. References

24. References

25. REFERENCES
Morton, F., & Tighe, B. (2011). Prevalence of, and factors influencing, binge drinking in young adult university under-graduate students. Journal of Human
Nutrition & Dietetics, 24(3), 296-297. doi:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2011.01175_25.x
National Health and Medical Research Council. (2009). Alcohol guidelines:reducing the health risk.
NSW Ministry of Health. (2015). The Hospital Drug and Alcohol Consultation Liaison Model of Care. Retrieved from
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/programs/da/Publications/Hosp-DA-consult-moc.pdf
Reilly, D., & Mitchell, E. (1998). Alcohol education in licensed premises using brief intervention strategies. Addiction, 93(3), 385-398.
Rickwood, D., George, A., Parker, R., & Mikhailovich, K. (2011). Harmful Alcohol Use on Campus: Impact on Young People at University. Youth Studies Australia,
30(1), 34-40.
Rinker, D. V., & Neighbors, C. (2013). Social influence on temptation: perceived descriptive norms, temptation and restraint, and problem drinking among
college students. Addictive Behaviors, 38(12), 2918-2923. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.08.027
Saitz, R. (2010). Alcohol screening and brief intervention in primary care: Absence of evidence for efficacy in people with dependence or very heavy drinking.
Drug and Alcohol Review, 29(6), 631-640.
Scott-Parker, B., Watson, B., King, M. J., & Hyde, M. K. (2014). “I drove after drinking alcohol” and other risky driving behaviours reported by young novice
drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 70, 65-73.

26. References
Seale, J. P., Velasquez, M. M., Johnson, J. A., Shellenberger, S., von Sternberg, K., Dodrill, C., . . . Grace, D. (2012). Skills-based residency training in alcohol screening and brief intervention: results from the
Georgia-Texas "Improving Brief Intervention" Project. Substance abuse, 33(3), 261-271.
Shupp, M. R., Brooks, F., & Schooley, D. (2015). Assessing Effective Alcohol and Other Drug Interventions with the College-Age Population: A Longitudinal Review. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 33(4), 422-
443. doi:10.1080/07347324.2015.1077630
Snowden, A. J., & Pridemore, W. A. (2014). Off-premise alcohol outlet characteristics and violence. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 40(4), 327-335.
Suresh, K., Suresh, G., & Thomas, S. (2012). Design and data analysis 1 study design. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 15(2), 76-80.
Tam, C. W., Knight, A., & Liaw, S. T. (2016). Alcohol screening and brief interventions in primary care - Evidence and a pragmatic practice-based approach. Australian family physician, 45(10), 767-770.
Tam, C. W., Leong, L., Zwar, N., & Hespe, C. (2015). Alcohol enquiry by GPs - Understanding patients' perspectives: A qualitative study. Australian family physician, 44(11), 833-838.
Wachtel, T., & Staniford, M. (2010). The effectiveness of brief interventions in the clinical setting in reducing alcohol misuse and binge drinking in adolescents: a critical review of the literature. Journal of Clinical
Nursing, 19(5-6), 605-620.
Wardle, J. (2015). Price-based promotions of alcohol: Legislative consistencies and inconsistencies across the Australian retail, entertainment and media sectors. International Journal of Drug Policy, 26(5), 522-530.
World Health Organisation. (2014). Global status report on alcohol and health. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/
Young, R. M., Connor, J. P., Ricciardelli, L. A., & Saunders, J. B. (2006). The role of alcohol expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy beliefs in university student drinking. Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford,
Oxfordshire), 41(1), 70-75.
Zoorob, R., Snell, H., Kihlberg, C., & Senturias, Y. (2014). Screening and brief intervention for risky alcohol use. Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 44(4), 82-87.

27. Thank you
For your attention