Telephone counselling may help alcoholics

NEW YORK: A few phone conversations with a counsellor might help patients who abuse or who are dependent on alcohol cut back on their drinking, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that after just six telephone sessions with a counsellor, men and women with alcohol problems were able to reduce their drinking.

All of the study participants had their drinking problems identified through screening during a routine visit to the doctor’s office. None had been seeking treatment for alcohol abuse. The findings, say the study authors, suggest that screening and phone-based counselling might help people who otherwise wouldn’t have their problem drinking addressed.

“The study shows that we shouldn’t just give up on those alcohol-dependent patients who cannot or choose not to get treatment,” lead study author Dr. Richard L Brown said.

“If we can identify these folks and provide telephone counselling, we can start to help many of these patients,” he said.

Brown and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin in Madison report the findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The study involved 900 adults with an alcohol disorder. They had telephone sessions with a counsellor to talk about ways to cut back on alcohol. Each call was followed by a letter from the counsellor that summarised the conversation.