University Support

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The drinking culture among university students is well known. Often, students starting university have recently turned 18, can now legally drink and are inexperienced drinkers. This means they are less likely to know their limits, understand units and are more likely to drink in excess or binge.

While drinking is still high amongst students, there has been a promising decline in alcohol consumption over the past few years. From 2005 to 2015, the percentage of 16-24-year-olds in England who do not drink alcohol increased from 18% to 29%. (1)


Alcohol related university stats

Even though numbers are declining, there are still a worrying amount of students drinking dangerously across the UK

  1. 70% of students in one university binge drank at least once (2)

  2. 76% of students feel that getting drunk is expected of them and 70% of students said they drink to fit in with their peers (3)

  3. The most popular drink amongst students are spirits

90% of students in one university said they were unaware of safe drinking guidelines (2)

90% of students in one university said they were unaware of safe drinking guidelines (2)


Short and long term effects

 Negative drinking habits can lead to serious short and long term complications, as the following statistics suggest.

1.      10% of students across 7 UK universities were found to likely be alcohol dependent (5)

2.      Alcohol is the leading cause of ill health among 15-24 year olds (6)

3.      In 2018-2019 more than 35,000 16-25 year olds were admitted to hospital due to alcohol related harm (7)

These stats prove that 16-24 year olds need support, advice and education around alcohol and its effects on health.


How can DrinkCoach support your students?

The Pandemic has forced a lot of services to provide digital interventions. DrinkCoach has been a specialist online support service since 2018 and have supported 1000’s of people online since the start of 2020. DrinkCoach is a digital alcohol service, educating on the importance of moderate drinking and providing harm reduction advice to people who want to cut down on their drinking and live healthier lifestyles.

DrinkCoach services

  • Free DrinkCoach App - users can track their drinking, create goals and see how many units and calories they consume each week.

  • DrinkCoach Alcohol Test (AUDIT) - the 2-min Alcohol Test informs the user if their drinking habits are low, increasing, high risk or if they could be alcohol dependent. Users are then given (IBA) and signposted to local support if needed.

  • Face to Face Online Coaching - you can book a 1-2-1 online session with an alcohol specialist of your choice to discuss your drinking habits and get advice on how to cut down and work through your goals.

Identification & Brief advice (IBA)

IBA is a simple yet effective way of providing brief advice to drinkers after they have completed the DrinkCoach AUDIT test. Increasing and higher risk drinkers will be given feedback on their test score, advice and information on where to access additional local support.

Since January 2020* the AUDIT test has saved local councils an estimated cost savings of over £1.1M**.


 

DrinkCoach Merchandise

We have a wide range of engaging printed materials suitable for events such as Freshers and Re-freshers Week, wellbeing and harm reduction campaigns and alcohol specific campaigns such as Alcohol Awareness Week and Dry January.

Merchandise:

  • A4 and A3 posters

  • Unit Cups: which show the units in different measures of popular drinks

  • Unit and calorie wheels: with examples of popular drinks and measures

  • Scratchcards: for an on the spot version of the 2-min Audit Test

  • Business card size info cards

  • Pull up banners: ideal for events

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To take advantage of our exclusive offer, email innovation@waythrough.org.uk ***

Campaign ideas

There are so many ways which our materials can be used to engage your audience. Here are a few suggestions.

  1. Toilet door poster campaign

    • Place posters behind toilet doors in campuses, student unions and halls. Students will be more likely to see them and take in the harm reduction messages

  2. Welcome packs

    • Create welcome packs to go into university halls, these could include unit wheels, scratch cards and unit cups, and provide an interactive way for students to learn about harm reduction and moderate drinking

  3. Wellbeing event stands

    • Our eye catching and engaging products are popular at events, place some of our items on an event stand to hand out to students

  4. Awareness day campaigns

    • Alcohol harm reduction campaigns can be done all year round but are most effective during awareness days such as Alcohol Awareness Week in November and Dry January. Pre order items to promote during our most successful periods

If you have any questions please email us at innovation@waythrough.org.uk


References

(1) https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-5995-3

(2)   https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0017896911406967

(3)   https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-277X.2011.01175_25.x

(5)   https://shura.shu.ac.uk/5761/1/Macaskill_Motivation_to_drink_alcohol_.pdf

(6)   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5437113/

(7)   https://gov.wales/student-health-and-well-being-survey

* January 2020 - August 2021

**based on the PHE estimate of £27,000 savings to the health and care economy for every 1,000 Increasing Risk/Higher Risk drinkers who receive Identification & Brief Advice (IBA).

***University merchandise offer ends 31st December 2021.