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When a person decides to do something about their drinking, families, mates and friends are often the most important source of help and support. Click on the links below to learn how you can: Help yourself
If you answered 'yes' to any two of these questions, your next step is to think about your choices and take action.
But you can encourage your partner to take action to change the mix. Click here to assess your drinking. Give your partner or family member a copy of the Alcohol Screen and encourage them to assess their own level of risk. Or check out the information for family members in the Guide to Low-Risk Drinking for the Veteran Community. Click to see PDF version of the Guide. You may also need to consider getting some support for yourself even if your partner chooses not to do anything about their drinking.
If your mate is already doing something about changing their drinking, there are ways to support them:
If you are a GP, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, community health nurse or other health professional who provides services to veterans and their families you may have an excellent opportunity to assist veterans to reduce or stop their drinking. This section does not provide a specific treatment guide for veterans with alcohol problems, however, it highlights areas relevant to your veteran patients or clientele.
AUDIT (Alcohol Screen) Now Available
Talking to Veterans about Health & Alcohol
Screening, Assessment and the AUDIT You can make alcohol screening a part of routine assessment, in line with this 'good health' approach. Start by using the Health Provider AUDIT with patients and clients from the veteran community. Instructions on scoring, interpretation and a guide to interventions are included as a separate sheet. The World Health Organisation's AUDIT is a very reliable and simple screening tool which is sensitive to early detection of risky and high-risk (or hazardous and harmful) drinking. AUDIT is recommended as the preferred screening instrument in The Australian Guidelines for the Treatment of Alcohol Problems released by the Department of Health and Ageing in 2003. Click here for a copy of the AUDIT. Self-screen Patients and clients can assess their own level of risk with this easy to use version of the AUDIT. Simply give it to people to complete in their own time and follow it up later. It includes information on low-risk drinking, additional risks and advice on making changes. Click here for the Alcohol Screen. After the AUDIT You may wish to follow up the AUDIT with a Brief Intervention such as:
Good Health Approach Although health providers and counsellors are sometimes reluctant to raise the issue of alcohol consumption with veterans, most are receptive to interventions relating to their alcohol use in the context of discussions about ways to improve their health generally. The 'good health' approach - promoting low-risk drinking as part of a health lifestyle - seems to be the best way to discuss alcohol management with veterans. For example, raise alcohol in relation to other lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and smoking. Screening and assesment Make alcohol screening a part of your routine assessment and diagnosis. Generally, messages about low-risk drinking should be embedded within more general health and lifestyle messages and ideally delivered by those services which are known to be respected by the veteran community; doctors, VVCS counsellors, allied health specialists, community nurses, mental health providers and pharmacists. The Veteran Community and Alcohol Data derived from the various treatment programs reflects higher levels of alcohol dependency for veterans seeking mental health treatment than the normal population. Alcohol dependence has become prominent since the late 1980s and now accounts for 15 percent of all DVA accepted mental health conditions in recent years. Alcohol dependence is one of the four most common mental health disorders accepted by DVA. Eighty eight percent of veterans with an accepted disability have a coexisting mental health condition, most commonly PTSD. In the 1997 Vietnam Veterans Health Study, 36 percent self-reported 'alcohol or drug misuse'. Veterans in general perceive that their alcohol consumption patterns have been significantly influenced by their military experience. Along with their peers in the general community, there's evidence that older veterans and war widows are drinking less than they used to. As a result some may not see alcohol as a health issue. Some older veterans you see who used to drink at risky levels may be experiencing the longer-term physical and mental health consequences. On the other hand, Vietnam veterans see alcohol as playing a bigger role in their physical and mental health. Vietnam veterans have relatively high levels of alcohol related harm. Many attribute their high levels of consumption to their military experience or their misuse of alcohol to deal with stress and trauma. Younger veterans and peacekeepers' attitudes to health and alcohol correlate with those of their age group in the general community. That is, they are more educated about the health consequences of alcohol than older veterans. Click here for more information on available resources. Clinical Practice Guidelines We are also developing Clinical Practice Guidelines for:
To stay in touch with their development and other news about The Right Mix, subscribe to our newsletter. DVA provides entitled clients with access to health care through arrangements with public and private health services and registered health care practitioners (such as GP's, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, etc). Click here to visit www.dva.gov.au for more information on DVA health providers.
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You
can change your mix. Start with the following questions:
Living
with someone who has a drinking problem can be draining for partners
and family members. When a family member has a drinking problem
you may feel unsure about how to help or how to talk to them about
how their drinking is affecting their health, safety and relationships.
If you want to support your partner in changing his drinking behaviour,
remember that changing habits is not easy, and giving advice rarely
works. 
Worried
about a mate's drinking? You may be able to help.
The
'good health' approach - promoting low-risk drinking as part of
a health lifestyle - seems to be the best way to discuss alcohol
with veterans. You can, for example, raise alcohol in relation to
other lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and smoking. 