ESCC - WH - RFQ - Brief Intervention & Advice Outreach Service

Funding for this service has been allocated from the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant (SSMTRG) to provide one tier 2 alcohol support service for the over 50 age range. However, this will include further care navigation to tier 3 and 4 services where the need arises.

"1 in 3 adults aged 50 to 70 increased their alcohol use during the COVID-19 lockdown. Even before the pandemic, alcohol consumption had been increasing in the over 50s population, while it decreased in other age groups. Addressing problem drinking in the over 50s has therefore never been more crucial."

The over 50's age group has been chosen for a number of reasons these include:

East Sussex age demographics - just under 48% of the county are aged 50 and over. With all age ranges from 50 up to 85+ higher than the average for England and Wales.

This will be a pilot service that will be monitored and reviewed to offer much needed early intervention in underserved areas of the county. This will support people to de-escalate problematic alcohol issues before they reach harmful levels via the promotion of community-based activities, online resources and/or support with further referrals if necessary.

"Bespoke older adults' substance misuse services are the ideal model of care for some older adults, particularly if their alcohol use is caused by an age-related issue (e.g., grief, loneliness, boredom, retirement), they have age-related barriers to accessing or engaging with alcohol services (e.g., frailty, poor mobility, cognitive impairment, sensory limitations, comorbidity) or they are likely to feel intimidated in a mixed-age service."

Falls and fractures are a common and serious health issue faced by older people in England. Older people are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol, which can increase the risk of having a fall.

This has been apparent in the East Sussex Alcohol Related Death data that has been analysed through the alcohol working group. The service providing interventions and advice will understand the referral pathways to local services that can assist with fall prevention.

24% of alcohol related hospital admissions between the 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021 were patients aged between 64 and 75. A reasonable proportion of these were due to unintentional injuries as a primary diagnosis, although the data is not available to break this down to age groups, other diagnosis' include cancer, mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol, cardiovascular disease, unintentional injuries, intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol and alcoholic liver disease.

In line with other drug and alcohol treatments for adults in East Sussex, this work will take an approach which identifies and uses assets already present in the community and emphasises partnership working as well as using specialist services.