First-of-its-kind national guideline to support people with alcohol use disorder
published on January 29, 2021
New national resources to give clinicians the tools they need to better prevent, treat, and reduce harms from alcohol use disorder in Canada will soon be available, just as reports suggest Canadians are consuming more alcohol than ever.
Health Canada is aiming to fill the evidence-to-practice gap through the development of the first-ever national clinical guideline for treating patients with high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder, to be led by the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM). This guideline will lead to improved screening, treatment, and care for people who engage in high-risk drinking and those with alcohol use disorder.
Alcohol use disorder is the most common substance use disorder in Canada, yet it frequently goes untreated and unrecognized, resulting in a high prevalence of disease, social harms, and economic costs. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reports that alcohol-related hospitalizations outnumber other common diseases, including heart disease, representing a tremendous burden on the health care system.
These harms may be exacerbated during COVID-19, as data has shown that Canadians are consuming more alcohol than ever. A recent survey conducted by Nanos and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction found that Canadians under the age of 54 have been consuming more alcohol since the start of the pandemic. One quarter (25%) of Canadians between 35 and 54 years of age report increasing the amount of alcohol they consume while more than one-in-five (21%) Canadians aged between 18 and 34 years reported the same.
A similar survey carried out by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) found that nearly a quarter (23.3%) of respondents reported consuming more alcohol during the pandemic.
The national guideline will provide direction for health care providers across the country to integrate alcohol-related care into routine practice and establish therapeutic relationships with patients and families experiencing alcohol-related harms. The guideline will be adapted from the recently published Provincial Guideline for the Clinical Management of High-Risk Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder, led by the BCCSU.
CRISM is a nationally networked organization that will work with leading experts including clinical researchers, service providers, and policy makers, along with people with lived experience with alcohol use disorder, impacted families, and those in recovery from alcohol use disorder.
The guidance is expected to be released in 2022-23. It will be supplemented by clinical guidance for pregnant and postpartum patients.
Quotes
“We know that high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder can have significant impacts on Canadians’ health, but a lack of understanding and resources means that those with AUD can struggle to get the support they need. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increasingly high level of alcohol use in Canada, with Canadians becoming more aware of the negative impacts of alcohol. This national guideline – the first of its kind – will give our health care providers the tools and resources needed to effectively help those who struggle with problematic alcohol use.”
The Honourable Patty Hajdu
Minister of Health
“Consuming substances like alcohol may be a way for some to manage or control stress, as well as symptoms of depression or anxiety. An increase in alcohol consumption during stressful periods, which we’ve seen in particular during the pandemic, may lead to harms down the road. This new guideline will better equip health care providers to screen, assess, treat, and offer appropriate supports and connection to recovery services to individuals who engage in high-risk drinking and those with alcohol use disorder, and ideally, help mitigate short and longer term alcohol-related harms.”
Samantha Robinson
Interim Clinical Director, BC Centre on Substance Use
Quick facts
- The economic costs of alcohol-related harm in Canada are estimated to have been more than $14 billion in 2002.
- Adults in middle age (twice as many men as women) make up about half of the hospitalizations entirely caused by alcohol.
- Although harms from opioids have been on the rise over the last decade, hospitalizations caused entirely by alcohol (237 hospitalizations per day) were four times more common than those for opioids (55 hospitalizations per day).
- As many as seven teens a day aged 10 – 19 are hospitalized for conditions entirely caused by alcohol.
Read the full Health Canada announcement here.