The outcome of Strand I of the project (Customisation of materials and procedures, development of the Communications Strategy and the building of Strategic Alliances) will be used in the development of a local demonstration project.
The demonstration project will aim to show that widespread dissemination of screening and brief alcohol intervention in primary health care in a local area is possible, and will serve as a model for similar applications throughout participating countries.
The project will also aim to show that widespread dissemination of screening and brief alcohol intervention is effective in reducing alcohol-related harm and the burden of costs imposed on local communities by that harm.
Finally, it will generate valuable lessons regarding the practicalities of disseminating and delivering screening and brief intervention that can be fed back into the overall implementation strategy.
The key objective is not to provide “scientific proof” of the effectiveness of screening and brief intervention, which has already been demonstrated, but rather to provide a practical demonstration of how widespread implementation can be achieved, with some evidence of the impact on alcohol-related harm and its cost to the community.