Alcohol information for primary care professionals

Abstract

Alcohol Concern decided to develop the service for several reasons. Primary care is the main contact people have with the health service ‐ in any year 70% of the population will visit their general practitioner (GP). This makes primary care an ideal setting in which to detect and identify hazardous and dependent drinkers. While people experiencing difficulties or ill health because of their drinking will not necessarily attend a specialist alcohol service, they will probably visit their GP. Problem drinkers are known to consult their GPs twice as often as the average patient, the most common complaints are gastrointestinal, psychiatric and accidents (Heather & Kaner, in press).

Citation

Wood, A. (2001), "Alcohol information for primary care professionals", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 13-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/17459265200100004