2018 was a huge year for the Driving Change project, with Last Drinks interventions rolling in Melbourne, Geelong, and Warrnambool, and the project receiving attention at a national scale. We have plenty of positive news to share!
The first public interventions in Melbourne (released by ACEM on 14th November and 5th December) were very well received.
Using data from St Vincent’s and Monash ED’s…
…we identified Crown Casino, the MCG, Tramp Nightclub, Billboard/170 Russell, and Arbory Bar and Eatery as the most common “last drinks” locations. We received great coverage from Herald Sun, ABC Radio Melbourne, SBS News, and many other outlets.
The Northern Territory government Health Minister Natasha Fyles and the Department of Health have committed to collecting the Driving Change questions in all hospitals in the Territory, with implementation underway.
These NT sites won’t be included as part of the current stepped wedge model, but can be taken as a sign that the model is attracting real attention and translation.
Driving Change has received increasing attention and encouragement from governments and licensing authorities.
In addition to the NT, the Queensland government have also shown enthusiasm for the Cardiff model at the ministerial level, particularly as they are facing the opening of a new Casino in Brisbane.
The recent media coverage in Victoria has also prompted contact from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, who have requested ongoing reporting of the Driving Change data and a desire for wider implementation of the data collection. In line with findings from the Cardiff model internationally, VCGLR have expressed that the ED data provides valuable information previously absent using police and licensing data. Great feedback!
Driving Change was nominated as a 2018 VicHealth Award finalist.
The awards night was held last week on Dec 5th. We were just shy of being the overall winner in the alcohol harm category, but a great result to end the year all round!
Data collection in Canberra looks extremely promising with both Canberra ED sites running very well.
Calvary ED, (which is the only ED to be collecting drug use data alongside alcohol data), is providing some very interesting and unique data. With the addition of the Canberra Hospital/ACT Health to the project, we have now captured all ED attendances for Canberra. It will be exciting to start the interventions there in 2019, with some venues already standing out as real problem hotspots.
Some administrative points too:
We are preparing an ethics amendment to extract postcode and suburb data, with the aim to improve the use of the data in tackling harmful alcohol consumption from packaged liquor in domestic settings and other public areas.
The protocol article has been reviewed positively with minor revision recommended, good news!
We hope this has been an interesting update, expect to see more regularly. Please feel free to pass this information on to any ED staff who might find it positive and motivating!