| Alcohol-Related Brain Damage in the community: Recognition, response and pathways forward Wednesday 15 October | 9:30 am – 1:00 pm Alcohol Change UK and the ARBD Network are pleased to invite you to our third annual ARBD conference, exploring how alcohol-related brain damage presents in community settings and what services can do differently to improve outcomes. With a practical focus, the event will look at ARBD across housing and homelessness, adult social care, primary care, safeguarding and community safety. Sessions will cover lived experience, inclusion and marginalised groups, housing responses, and what to do when ARBD is suspected but specialist pathways are limited. This event will be relevant for anyone working with people facing multiple disadvantages, alcohol dependence, cognitive impairment or barriers to engagement. Find out more and book your place |
| Neurodivergence and alcohol support services: A survey for people who are neurodivergent and have lived experience of alcohol support services Alcohol Change UK is working on a national project to improve how alcohol support services recognise and respond to neurodivergence. As part of this work, we want to better understand the experiences of neurodivergent people who have accessed or attempted to access alcohol support or treatment services. We welcome both positive and negative experiences. Your feedback will help us identify examples of good practice, areas where services need to improve, and priorities for future work. Access the survey |
| Safeguarding Adult Reviews Throughout the life of the Blue Light Approach, we have drawn on Safeguarding Adult Reviews and other Serious Case Reviews to aid learning about responding to people with entrenched alcohol dependency. Last year, Nottingham Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) published SAR Lisa. Lisa was a 57-year-old white British woman who died in hospital in February 2023. Her death was due to liver failure, alcoholic liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and ischemic heart disease. She had a long history of alcohol use disorders, mental health problems, self-neglect and concerns about domestic abuse. The report makes recommendations about working with people services find hard to engage, alcohol screening and mental capacity. You can read the Executive Summary and a seven-minute briefing at the links below: Executive summary: Nottingham City SAR for ‘Lisa’ Briefing: Nottingham City SAR ‘Lisa’ case summary It is worth highlighting an earlier Nottingham SAR – Valentina, which also concerns a woman with alcohol use disorders. More recently, Cumbria SAB published the Samantha SAR. Samantha sadly died aged 33 in July 2024. The SAR was commissioned because of concerns about how agencies worked together to safeguard her, particularly in the context of domestic abuse, substance use, coercive control, and her informal caring arrangements. Alcohol and fire safety has been a consistent theme in our work, and it was good to see the Blue Light Approach mentioned in this Fire Safety SAR from West of Berkshire SAB. You can read the report here. |
| The patterns of relapse and abstinence An article in Frontiers in Psychiatry looked at the indicators of longer-term successful alcohol detoxification. The article’s full title, “The patterns of relapse and abstinence: using machine learning to identify a multidimensional signature of long-term outcome after inpatient alcohol withdrawal treatment” may deter readers. However, its conclusions are relatively straightforward. Poor health, the number of previous withdrawals and poor accommodation are associated with worse outcomes. This is not a surprise, but the article provides good background evidence for those aiming to improve detox outcomes. Read the article |
| Reminder- Survey on neurodiversity in people with entrenched alcohol dependency Just a reminder that our survey on identifying local challenges and best practice in working with dependent drinkers with neurodiversity is now live. In this survey, neurodiversity covers Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other conditions such as Tourette’s Syndrome, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia. We are looking for information, experience, practical examples and case studies of both effective and ineffective practice with dependent drinkers who are also neurodivergent or appear to be neurodivergent. We would be grateful if you could complete this short questionnaire (10 questions) to tell us about your experience. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Access the survey |
| Reminder – Food and belonging online learning event – 2 July 2026 The role of cooking, eating and connection in reducing alcohol harm and promoting recovery is a central theme of the Blue Light Approach. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that Alcohol Change UK is running an online learning event on these themes on 2 July 2026 from 10 am to 12.35 pm. The speakers will be: Dietician Bally Parekh, on why drug and alcohol workers need to know more about nutrition Anna Preece, on the interface of alcohol dependence and disordered eating Claire Thomas, talking about the success of Barod’s lunch club in Swansea Chloe Casey, on using cookery and creative arts to support recovery for women in Bournemouth Plus, there will be an invitation to join a national network to promote food and nutrition in drug and alcohol treatment. Tickets are £70 (including VAT and booking fee). Contact us about discounted places for students and people with lived experience of the issues. Find out more and book your places |
| Reminder – The Casey Commission on Adult Social Care There’s still time to make comments to The Casey Commission on adult social care on how the system works from your perspective and how it can be improved. Comments are specifically sought and can be made via their online form. Do make use of this opportunity to highlight the need to develop the Adult Social Care response for people who are alcohol dependent. Share your views with The Casey Commission |
| Alcohol Change UK training We can deliver our award-winning Blue Light course, our safeguarding vulnerable dependent drinkers course and our cognitive impairment online along with a host of other courses either in-person or online, depending on your needs. If you think that would be of use to your workforce or local area, do contact us. Get in touch |