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Abstract
The current study aimed to investigate the range of influences on people's decisions to seek alcohol treatment and develop a model of treatment-seeking based on participants’ accounts. Understanding these influences could inform clinical practice and aid development of effective motivational interventions for the majority of people with alcohol problems who avoid or delay seeking treatment. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants who had been referred to an NHS alcohol treatment unit. To ensure, a broad range of treatment-seekers was investigated; participants were recruited according to the principles of maximum variation sampling whereby we interviewed participants at varying stages of engagement. Verbatim transcripts of the interviews were analysed within a thematic analytic framework. Contrary to expectations participants had not worked up gradually to seek help. Rather, participants described the decision to seek treatment as sudden and prompted by events that mirrored the extent of their drinking. Participants described their response to these mirroring events as both passive and autonomous. Furthermore, a window of opportunity was initiated by these events, during which participants were responsive to suggestions to make changes to their drinking and practitioners could influence the treatment-seeking process. This evidence is inconsistent with influential models of treatment-seeking behaviour. It suggests an alternative view that treatment-seeking is externally influenced and the result of a step-wise rather than gradual process. The findings indicate how practitioners might encourage treatment-seeking, particularly for participants who may not appear ready to change.
Notes
Notes
1. The UK Department of Health (Citation1992) guidelines recommend a maximum weekly alcohol intake of 21 units for men and 14 for women. (1 unit = 8 g/10 mL alcohol).