Funding outcome

The Addiction Recovery and Community Health (ARCH) team is working with the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) to develop a managed alcohol program (MAP) for patients with severe alcohol use disorders. Although most patients experiencing alcohol use disorders can safely undergo medical detoxification while in hospital without significant problems, for a minority of patients with severe disorders, detoxification may not be a realistic short term goal. For these patients, forced detoxification could result in patients experiencing life-threatening side effects (including seizures, delusions, vomiting, etc.), leaving the hospital before they finish their medical treatments, consuming nonbeverage alcohol (such as hand sanitizer), and/or leaving and returning to the unit severely intoxicated. To mitigate these potential health hazards and improve access to care amongst people experiencing severe alcohol use disorders, the ARCH team has implemented a MAP which provides eligible patients with supervised, regular doses of alcohol to prevent severe withdrawal and related complications. Although MAPs have already been implemented in many communities across Canada, and research indicates they lead to reduced alcohol consumption and improved health outcomes, they have never been studied in an acute care setting. Additionally, almost no research has explored the managed alcohol needs and experiences of women with severe alcohol use disorders. Indeed, many MAPs in Canada exclude female participants completely. This is despite siginficant evidence that women experience alcohol dependence differently from men, tend to develop severe problems more quickly, and are less likely to access treatment or other related health and social supports. The present study will address these gaps by examining female patients' experiences with the RAH's MAP. It will also examine the experiences of RAH health care providers who treat women with severe alcohol use disorders, including dispensing alcohol to them in an acute care setting.