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Background Despite harmful drinking causing a significant burden on global health, there is a large treatment gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries. A major barrier to care is the lack of adequately skilled human resources to deliver contextually appropriate treatments. This paper describes the systematic process used to develop Counselling for Alcohol Problems ( CAP), a brief psychological treatment (PT) for delivery by lay counselors in routine primary care settings to men with harmful drinking in India. Methods CAP was developed using a methodology involving 3 sequential steps: (i) identifying potential treatment strategies; (ii) developing a theoretical framework for the treatment; and (iii) evaluating the acceptability and feasibility of the treatment. Results CAP is a 3-phase treatment delivered over 1 to 4 sessions based on a motivational interviewing ( MI) stance and involves the following strategies: assessment and personalized feedback, family engagement, drink refusal skills, skills to address drinking urges, problem-solving skills and handling difficult emotions, and relapse prevention and management. Data from a case series were used to inform several adaptations to enhance the acceptability of CAP to the recipients and feasibility of delivery by lay counselors of the treatment, for example expansion of the target group to include alcohol-dependent patients and the extension of the delivery settings to include home-based delivery. There was preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of CAP. Conclusions CAP is an acceptable brief PT for harmful drinking delivered by lay counselors in primary care whose effectiveness is currently being tested in a randomized controlled trial based in primary care in Goa, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Although most people are aware of government guidelines for alcohol consumption, few have accurate knowledge of these and fewer still use these guidelines to monitor their drinking. Most people also lack accurate knowledge of the alcohol content of the drinks they consume. The aim of the study reported here was to examine whether or not personalized feedback on alcohol consumption based on performance in a drink-pouring task and self-reported alcohol intake would improve university students' knowledge of alcohol consumption guidelines and reduce their alcohol intake. Methods A quasi-randomized control trial with a 2-month follow-up was conducted with 200 students aged 18 to 37 in the south of England. Participants were allocated to a 'pour + feedback' group that completed a drink-pouring task and received personalized feedback, a 'pour only' group that completed the drink-pouring task but did not receive feedback, and a control group. Results At follow-up, participants in the 'pour + feedback' group had significantly better knowledge of government guidelines, and significantly lower weekly alcohol intake when compared to the 'control' and 'pour only' groups. Conclusions Further refinement of the drink-pouring intervention and feedback is reported in this paper, and assessment of their impact in various populations may lead to better understanding of which elements of personalized feedback have the greatest influence on young people's alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]