Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/alcohol-use-disorders-87-do-health-work...
Dear Jeniffer,
You made an important observation: "Health workers do not have adequate knowledge on alcohol use disorders since it is not considered as a medical condition"
Please can you say a bit more about this in your context (Kenya)?
The implication is that some health workers do not see it as their responsibility to prevent or manage Alcohol Use Disorders. Is that the case? Can you give any examples of how this looks in practice?
Health workers clearly have an important role to play in the prevention and management of AUD. What do they do (or fail to do) when they have a patient with obvious AUD?
And what treatment is available for people with very severe AUD?
It would also be valuable to learn what care is provided for AUD by different cadres of primary health worker (eg CHWs, nurses, doctors), and by staff in a district or national hospital?
What can be done to improve health worker attitudes (and therefore care for) patients with AUD? What can be done to help students recognise AUD as a medical disorder during training?
Is it possible to change the mindset of health workers who are already established? How?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
