Programs and healthy living centers:
While this campaign was out the students in 6th form made a presentation which they presented in front of the year 8s which informed them about the damages alcohol gives that remain unknown for several years then appear when they have become severe and can no longer be treated.
There is a health community team in Bradford where they help individuals who are addicted to alcohol or are underage drinking. Helping individuals is very important as it helps lessen violence and accidents which are caused by drinking carelessly. The team helps individual on weekdays from Monday-Thursday 9.00 am – 5.00 pm and on Friday 9.00 am - 4.30 pm.
To help people live a healthy lifestyle, Bradford has also introduced Royds healthy living centre which helps individual who need help with diet, alcohol or smoking. It is based in Bradford 6 where any age group can visit. For alcohol related issues they help the individuals how to lower their drinking and how it can harm their bodies and people around them for example if a women wants to get pregnant, drinking alcohol will lower her chance of getting pregnant easily.
Health action zone Others said that they had a better sense of community and more of an idea of how they 'fitted in'. The academics - Prof Lucas, Dr Janet Henderson and Alison Torn - now say the challenge is to maintain the A scheme to erase health inequalities in poorer parts of Bradford is working well, according to a Bradford University report.
Three academics at the university have been evaluating the achievements of the Bradford He45w34647yup;[o#l]p
P0A-A0—177778Salth Action Zone (HAZ), which was started in April, 1998.
More than £216 million has been spent on the HAZ nationally, funding about 140 projects in deprived areas of Bradford alone.
Professor Jeff Lucas, one of the report's authors, said: "Findings in the report indicate that the innovative and flexible methods of planning and delivering health and social care services through HAZ funding have enabled the successful targeting and accessing of populations who are at risk of illness and social exclusion. It also highlights lessons learned from the process, including the difficulties posed by tight timescales and short-term funding."
In 1997, the former Bradford Health Authority was ranked as the eighth most deprived in the country, and the most deprived in the North and Yorkshire region.
About 190,000 people in the Bradford district were classed as 'deprived'.
This was reflected by rates of diabetes, heart disease, mental illness and accidents.
The Department of Health set up 26 Health Action Zones to reduce health inequalities, address social exclusion, improve services and get better value from resources.
Bradford's HAZ was started in 14 priority disease areas and in , East, and and was due to last for seven years.
Government-funded initiatives included projects to help people give up smoking, tackle high rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, poor housing, domestic violence and drug misuse.
They included elderly people, those from ethnic minorities and children and young people.
One project tried to address mental health problems through the performing arts, while vegetable co-operative shops were set up to improve diets.
Community involvement was encouraged, with participants reporting that they were given a boost in self-esteem and self-confidence.
improvements.
Councilor Imran Hussain, Deputy Leader of Bradford Council said:
“Alcohol misuse can have a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities. Local agencies work very hard all year round to tackle and prevent the problems caused by excessive and anti-social drinking. Education, regulation, enforcement and rehabilitation are all important strands of our approach.”
Angela Williams, Temporary Chief Superintendant, Bradford South Division, West Yorkshire Police said:
“Tackling drunkenness, anti-social behaviour and alcohol fuelled violence is a key priority for West Yorkshire Police. Alcohol is linked to all types of violent crime and the police and our partners are determined to tackle this issue across the district. Our message is simple: if you enjoy a drink, don’t overdo it. Know your limits and never get behind the wheel of a vehicle if you have had alcohol.”
Ralph Saunders, head of public health at NHS Bradford and Airedale said:
“Many people enjoy a drink but it’s important to do so sensibly. Drinking too much can have very serious effects on your health, and more people than ever in the UK are suffering the consequences of heavy drinking. We are asking everyone to think about how much they are drinking and consider the long-term health impact of drinking too much.”
The events which took place regarding the issues of alcohol were in Bradford where they informed the people who drink regular about the dangers of alcohol and how it can have a huge impact on their lives if they keep drinking, the events which took place were:
- 11.30am-1.30pm, 18 October, Bradford Centenary Square
- 1pm- 2.30pm, 19 October, Keighley ASDA Car Park
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The main target for this campaign was for people around the age of 18-26 as these are the main group of people who get together on Friday and Saturday nights and drink more than their recommended limits.
A survey was taken by secondary school pupils aged 11 to 15 years in 2009 which asked the information by 7,674 pupils from 247 schools across England. It found that:
- 22% of students were reported to take drugs.
- 51% of students were reported to take alcohol at least once.
- 18% of students were reported to be alcoholics.
“The vast majority (90%) of young people who access specialist drug and alcohol services have problems with alcohol and/or cannabis. They require psychosocial, harm reduction and family interventions rather than the treatment for addiction required by most adults and a small minority of young people. Only 3% of young people in treatment require help with heroin or cocaine and the aim of treatment for them is abstinence via detoxification and counselling.”
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What is alcohol?
Alcohol is made when fruits such as grapes are fermented. Fermentation process consists of grape turning in wine using yeast or bacteria. It is very concerning when individuals have alcohol as it has many side effects which eventually lead to life time problems and illnesses. When individuals have alcohol it gets absorbed into their blood which slowly affects their nervous system. For teens it’s much worse as their brain is still developing, its affects their brains and spinal cord instantly.
When individual have alcohol it slows the function of central nervous system. It blocks some of the messages which are trying to get to the brain, so it makes the person feel less painful as it affects person's perceptions, emotions, movement, sighting, and hearing. Even small amount of alcohol can affect person’s emotions and feelings. However having more alcohol then recommended amount can cause greater changes to the nervous system and the brain as it intoxicates it feeling that certain individual in a confused state, which is the reason why the law is against drinking and driving.
There are many reasons why teens drink alcohol at a very young age where their brain is still developing. It is very common for teenagers to go out and have a drink as they feel like experimenting things which are harm to them to see if they get the same result as other. There can be many reasons why they might drink alcohol and some of the reasons are:
- Experimenting
- relax
- to fit in with the crowd
- feel older than their age
The NHS themselves recommend different units of alcohol to different genders as they both react to different amounts. For men they recommend 2-3 units a day whereas for women its 3-4 units a day. When an individual goes over their limit it can affect their health. Alcohol can have a huge impact on liver too as their blood pressure rises and increases the risk of many cancers such as lung cancer. Putting risk to one’s health all depends on how much one has alcohol in a day.
There are few people who have few units of alcohol everyday which means that it is less likely for them to cause harm to themselves. Even though they drink less alcohol, it doesn’t mean that they won’t cause harm to themselves. When a pregnant lady has a drink it immediately reaches the baby through placenta, it can affect the baby’s development very easily.
Those who have a little more alcohol then recommended amount by NHS, it can increase the risk of catching a disease very easily. Alcohol affects all parts of the body and damage the health of an individual very easily. If individuals are drinking at this rate then it is likely they will have higher risk of many diseases than others who don’t drink at all. On the NHS website it says: ()
- “Men are 1.8 to 2.5 times as likely to get cancer of the mouth, neck and throat; women are 1.2 to 1.7 times as likely.
- Women are 1.2 times as likely to get breast cancer.
- Men are twice as likely to develop liver cirrhosis, and women 1.7 times as likely.
- Men are 1.8 times as likely to develop high blood pressure, and women are 1.3 times as likely.”
Having too much alcohol can make an individual suffer from problems such as depression, weight gain and lack of sleep. It increases the blood pressure of one individual which causes a lot of harm to the body and it can also affect ones relationships with the people around him as he will start to become aggressive and angry toward them over small issues.
Over 2009 and 2010, there were many individual who were in hospital due to having too much alcohol and getting themselves injured. When people have even small amount of alcohol it can lead to:
- seizures
- head injuries due to losing conscious
- violent and aggressive behaviour
- unprotected sex
- Losing valuable possessions.
However when individuals have large amount of alcohol it leads to many worse problems such as:
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- Unemployment
- Abused by other individuals.
There was an incident in October 2011 where the Bradford district council decided to campaign for misuse of alcohol. Its main aim was to try and make people aware of the consequences for drinking and driving. It said on the Telegraph and Argus that “During Alcohol Awareness Week, which starts next Monday, agencies in the Bradford Community Safety Partnership will join forces to highlight the harm alcohol can cause and also the work done to tackle problems caused by irresponsible drinking.” Which informed individuals who drink alcohol a reminder for not drinking if they were underage, going to drive soon or misbehaving after getting drunk. The , deputy leader of Bradford Council said: “Alcohol misuse can have a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities.”
Alcohol misuse has put a lot of burden on the NHS, with 6% admission nationally. The cost in 2006 was about £2.7 million in Bradford. However the total cost over the UK was about £200 million. About 9% of men in Bradford were on high drinking level whereas 7% of women were on high level.
There are many campaigns which have took place within the UK which main aim is for people to stop drinking and driving, underage drinking and also alcohol misuse in the society, the campaign which have took place within the last few years are:
- Safe. Sensible. Social 2007. The updated national alcohol strategy
- The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England which was in 2004
- The Youth Alcohol Action Plan in 2008
- Drinking Sensibly in Bradford: the alcohol harm reduction strategy for Bradford district in the year 2008
- Bradford Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy
- Bradford Young People’s Substance Misuse Commissioning Plan 2010-2011
- Alcohol awareness week in 2011
-
Bradford District Alcohol Health Equity in August 2010
Bibliography:
alcohol project:
---helpful web.