October 2014 – Page 2 – Matters of Substance

Do you know the effects that having a glass of wine a night is having on your health? Or how your risk for certain diseases and cancers increases with every drink? If your answer is “no,” then you aren’t alone. Despite the fact that 78 percent of us drink, many Canadians aren’t aware of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs), let alone what the guidelines are (no more than two a day, 10 a week for women; three a day, 15 a week for men). This is why the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), the Centre for Addictions Research of BC (CARBC) and the Canadian Vintners Association (CVA) explored the educational potential of social media by taking to Twitter this summer to promote the LRDGs.

Part of the reason there isn’t much awareness around the guidelines could be that they are relatively new. Published in 2011, the LRDGs were developed by the National Alcohol Strategy Advisory Committee using existing provincial drinking guidelines, such as those produced by CARBC, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Éduc’alcool. The LRDGs provide men and women with drinking limits that can help to reduce alcohol-related harms like chronic illness and injury. Resources such as a brochure, a poster, and summaries on the relationship of alcohol and cancer, and the impact of alcohol on youth and women have all been developed to promote the guidelines, but the Twitter campaign marked the first time that a coordinated, multi-partner social-media strategy had been used to educate people.

Working together, CCSA, CARBC and the CVA planned and launched a month-long Twitter campaign that ran from mid-August to mid-September, featuring weekly themes, informative resources and a campaign hashtag (#CdnLRDG in English; #DCAFRcan in French). In addition to the above brochures and posters, some of the more lighthearted resources shared through the campaign included the Home Bartending Challenge and the How to Drink Properly video series. The late-summer time frame allowed for tweets related both to events where drinking commonly occurs, such as summer long weekends and frosh week, and to alcohol-related health promotion days, such as International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day. Online tools such as bitly link tracking, which allowed the group to see what resources got the most clicks, Hootsuite and Twitter analytics, Google Analytics, and Cision social media monitoring, helped the group measure success, and see what worked and what could be improved upon.

A sample of some of the #CdnLRDG tweets seen during the campaign.

Twitter provided an easy way to spread low-risk drinking messages and engage with respondents. By sharing and retweeting each other’s content, participants reached new audiences beyond their own Twitter followers. The #CdnLRDG campaign hashtag was used in every tweet, so anyone interested in the campaign could follow all conversations. Participants could also include other alcohol-related hashtags in their tweets, effectively “crashing the party” of other conversations — another great way to open up the conversation to more audiences.

Overall, the Twitter campaign increased website visits an average of 78% for the three organizations leading the campaign. However, in analyzing Twitter engagement, it was mostly healthcare organizations and workers retweeting content as opposed to the general public, who might have seen the tweets, but just not engaged in conversation. This isn’t surprising, since most of CCSA and CARBC’s followers are healthcare organizations. Extra efforts will be required to directly reach the general public in future campaigns. Yet the LRDG campaign highlights what educational goals can be accomplished with social media and great partnerships!

Authors: Tina Barton, Communications Advisor; Sheena Gereghty, PhD, Knowledge Broker
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

**Please note that the material presented here does not necessarily imply endorsement or agreement by individuals at the Centre for Addictions Research of BC.

Drug education does not solely require educating people about drugs; it can also mean educating them about how to use drugs safely. This increases their capacity to mitigate the risks related to drugs, empowering them to manage their substance use. In turn, this helps them make better decisions about use in the context of their own unique situation.

The Safer Use series, developed by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC, offers practical ways for people who use substances to be active players in their own well-being, including helping them develop skills in managing their patterns of use, as well as adopt safer modes of use and ways to mitigate risk.

One of the challenges in developing the series was how to address effectively the needs of people who are experienced in substance use yet may be using in risky ways. As the development process unfolded, it was helpful to constantly ask is the content …

Easy to understand. “Clear but not simplistic” is a useful principle to keep in mind. The aim is to help the reader grasp and use the content as easily as possible. Some ways to do this include using audience-appropriate everyday words (e.g., “drunk” rather than “intoxicated”) as well as clarifying with illustrations and using informative headings such as “before you start” and “things to avoid.”
Relevant. Knowing the audience is so important. Material that is tailored to address specific concerns helps engage people and draw them in. For instance, techniques of safer injecting may matter to street-entrenched youth, but would be less relevant for club- or party-going youth who may be more concerned about “safer tripping” strategies.
Useful. Ensuring suggested practices are doable and practical improves the chances they will be adopted. This involves going beyond the ideal (e.g., recommending the use of sterile water) and providing more accessible alternative measures (e.g., boiling tap water). While it’s critical to ground content in sound theory and evidence, lengthy explanations of the research behind a suggested practice can obscure key messages.
Credible. Making sure the content is objective and balanced helps build trust. Drug education efforts risk being discredited when messages conflict with the experience of the audience. Therefore it is important to offer an honest and even-handed discussion that acknowledges the positive effects of drugs as well as potential harms.

No substance use is completely without risk, but educating people who use drugs to manage use more safely affirms their self-efficacy – the capacity to increase control over their own health.

Author: Bette Reimer, Research Associate, Centre for Addictions Research of BC

**Please note that the material presented here does not necessarily imply endorsement or agreement by individuals at the Centre for Addictions Research of BC.

Month: October 2014

Drug Education Takes Many Forms