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Play Hard Drink Safe: a pilot project to promote responsible alcohol consumption in sporting clubs in Western Australia
Author(s) -
Clarkson Johanna P.,
GilesCorti Billie,
Donovan Robert J.,
Frizzell Shirley K.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he02226
Subject(s) - club , psychological intervention , health promotion , intervention (counseling) , motivational interviewing , medicine , incentive , advertising , promotion (chess) , environmental health , consumption (sociology) , public health , public relations , marketing , business , nursing , political science , sociology , social science , politics , law , economics , anatomy , microeconomics
Issue addressed The Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) established a pilot sponsorship project in five sporting clubs to promote responsible alcohol consumption. In exchange for sponsorship funds, clubs introduced safe alcohol policies, displayed health messages promoting responsible drinking, promoted reduced‐alcohol beers and trained bar staff in safe serving practices. Method The project was evaluated using pre‐ and post‐intervention methods, including structured interviews with bar managers in each club and interviewer‐administered surveys of club members. Each club was visited twice unannounced during the intervention and independent observers noted the implementation and visibility of the sponsorship strategies. Results Approximately one‐third of club members surveyed spontaneously recalled the sponsorship message postintervention. At the end of the project, the majority of respondents recognised either the sponsorship message or a related message when prompted. Both pre‐ and postintervention, more than 50% of respondents reported consuming more than the recommended safe alcohol limits in their club. Sales of reduced strength beers did not increase and price incentives did not have an impact on beer sales. Conclusions The sponsorship achieved reasonable awareness, given the poor visibility of the promotional strategies, and demonstrated the feasibility of a small grants approach in promoting safe alcohol messages. So what? The high levels of alcohol consumption reported in the study underline the importance of interventions addressing this issue in sports settings.