"These results show that concentrated, community-wide interventions can save lives," notes NIAAA Director Ting-Kai Li, M.D. "This is the first study to explore the effect of the combined use of increased individually-oriented substance abuse treatment and environmental strategies to reduce alcohol availability."
Researchers led by Ralph W. Hingson, Sc.D, Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and Center to Prevent Alcohol Problems Among Young People, analyzed traffic fatality statistics in communities that had received "Fighting Back" grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Beginning in January, 1992 twelve such grants were awarded to communities throughout the United States to support the implementation of 10-year programs aimed at reducing substance abuse and related problems. The communities developed 15 different kinds of programs or actions that targeted alcohol abuse, including increasing publicly-funded treatment, establishing awareness campaigns about treatment services, initiating hospital emergency department alcohol screening and referral, conducting responsible beverage trainings, and enacting ordinances to prohibit public drinking.
"The efforts of five Fighting Back communities - Kansas City, MO; Milwaukee, WI; San Antonio, TX; Santa Barbara, CA; and Vallejo, CA - were considered 'concentrated' because they implemented eight or more actions to restrict alcohol availability and expand treatment," explains Dr. Hingson. Other Fighting Back communities implemented between two and six actions.
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Contact: Ann Bradley
abradley@mail.nih.gov
301-443-0595
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
28-Apr-2005