Attitudes and Knowledge Concerning Alcohol Abuse

Abstract

This study presents data regarding social work practitioner experiences, attitudes and knowledge about alcoholism. A standardized instrument was used to survey BSWs and MSWs (N = 105) at three sites in Canada. Significant findings were: (a) these practitioners had low levels of knowledge about alcoholism as measured on the Alcohol Knowledge Scale (AKS), and (b) professional experiences, not personal ones, shaped their knowledge. The latter included whether they had participated in any post graduate coursework/continuing education or conducted research with this population. Implications are directed toward curriculum development for educators and practitioners working in this field.

Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to examine enrolled nursing students' intention to care for patients with alcohol dependence: A survey study

“…Findings are in line with previous research (Kelly et al, 2012), showing subjective norms, followed by attitudes were the strongest predictors of intention. Also consistent with previous studies (Crothers and Dorrian, 2011;Giannetti et al, 2002;Rassool et al, 2006;Pillon and Laranjeria, 2005), EN students had low to moderate intention to care for patients with alcohol dependence. This suggests that students may feel ill equipped to provide adequate quality of care.…”

“…Alcohol-related knowledge was assessed using 10 multiple-choice questions based on previous research (Dorrian, 2012;Giannetti et al, 2002). Items were scored correct = 1 and incorrect = 0 and summed to generate a score out of 10.…”

“…This may be related to the lack of alcohol training (87%) and professional (88%) and personal experiences (65%) with patients, as research has shown these factors can impact these attitudes (Allen, 1993;Chung et al, 2003;Crothers and Dorrian, 2011;Giannetti et al, 2002).…”

“…External factors can influence components within the TPB (Werner and Grayzman, 2011). Research has identified several external factors including age (Crothers and Dorrian, 2011), personal alcohol use (Crothers and Dorrian, 2011), personal and professional experiences with patients (Chung et al, 2003;Giannetti et al, 2002) and support (Chung et al, 2003). Werner (2012) was one of the few researchers to utilize the TPB in this area, investigating social work, special education, nursing, occupational therapy and speech therapy students (N = 476) intention to care for individuals with dual diagnosis (co-morbid mental illness and substance abuse problem).…”

“…Students' are an imperative cohort for research as it is important to determine antecedents of intention to care for these patients prior to nursing employment. Research has identified a lack of alcohol training for nurses and nursing students (Crothers and Dorrian, 2011;Giannetti et al, 2002;Pillon and Laranjeria, 2005), despite the positive influence training can have on components within the TPB (Chung et al, 2003;Pillon and Laranjeria, 2005). Findings from the TPB can help develop alcohol training programmes for changing attitudes, increasing self-efficacy, promoting behavioural change and ultimately improving the quality of care alcohol-dependent patients receive (Werner, 2012).…”