Brief workshops to teach drug and alcohol first aid: A pilot evaluation study.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Health and community service workers frequently encounter people with alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems in the course of their work, yet few have had training on how to respond effectively. A Drug and Alcohol First Aid workshop was developed by Lyndon, a non-government organisation treatment provider, and delivered to community and health sector workers and the general public. It presented evidence-based information regarding AOD use and harm reduction and treatment options. A pilot evaluation of the workshop was conducted to assess changes in participants' knowledge about AOD, methods of responding to use and attitudes towards individuals who use AOD, over a 3 month period.

DESIGN AND METHODS: A self-report evaluation survey was developed and administered to workshop participants at three time points: before (T1), immediately after (T2) and 3 months after the workshop (T3). Paired samples t-tests examined changes in knowledge, role adequacy, motivation and personal views.

RESULTS: A total of 142 participants completed the T1 survey, 184 completed the T2 survey and 98 completed the T3 survey. Between T1 and T2, there were significant increases in scores for knowledge and role adequacy, indicating significant improvements in these areas. No significant differences were found for motivation and personal views. At T3, knowledge and role adequacy scores remained significantly higher than at baseline.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Drug and Alcohol First Aid appears to be a viable initiative to improve AOD-related knowledge and role adequacy. However, alternative strategies may be required to shift negative attitudes towards individuals who use AOD. [Kostadinov VR, Roche AM, McEntee A, Allan JM, Meumann NR, McLaughlin LL. Brief workshops to teach drug and alcohol first aid: A pilot evaluation study. Drug Alcohol Rev 2018;37:23-27].