Alcohol awareness and support: a 45-minute session outline

Before you start

• Read the four guides you will point to. They hold the facts, and this outline adds none of its own (the safety message and the emergency signs below are taken from the app and from these guides): what a standard drink is, coping with cravings, stopping safely and helping someone who drinks.
• Put Tele-MANAS 14416 and emergency 112 on a slide or on the wall for the whole session.
• Know your organisation’s own route to help (an employee assistance line, a counsellor, HR) and be ready to say it out loud.
• Print the poster or pocket cards for the door.
• Decide who will stay behind to talk one to one, and where.

The 45 minutes

1. Welcome and ground rules (5 min). Say that nobody will be asked whether they drink, nobody has to speak, and what is said stays in the room. Say honestly that if someone tells you that they or someone else is in danger, you will help them get help.
2. Why we are talking about it (5 min). Alcohol touches families and workplaces. The aim is support and information, not blame.
3. What counts as a drink (8 min). A peg, a bottle of beer and a glass of wine are different amounts. Ask people to guess, then look it up together in the standard drink guide.
4. Cravings, and what helps (8 min). Show the Craving SOS button in the app on a projected phone. Ask one open question (“what is one thing that helps you wait out an urge?”), take a few answers, and never press anyone to speak. See the cravings guide.
5. The safety message (5 min). Put this on a slide and read it aloud, word for word: “If you drink heavily or every day, stopping suddenly can be medically dangerous — abrupt withdrawal can cause seizures or delirium tremens, which can be life-threatening. Please talk to a doctor before you quit, and only reduce or stop under medical supervision.”
6. Helping someone else (8 min). Walk through the guide for family and friends. If managers are in the room, hand them the manager conversation guide.
7. Where to get help (4 min). The two numbers on the wall, your own route, and the app (point at the QR code). Say that Recoverly is free and private, and that your organisation cannot see who uses it.
8. Close (2 min). Thank people and say who is staying behind for one-to-one questions.

If someone is unwell or distressed in the room

• A seizure, severe confusion, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or a collapse: call 112. The stopping-safely guide lists more signs.
• Someone says they want to harm themselves: stay with them, do not leave them alone, and call Tele-MANAS 14416 or 112 together.
• Someone talks about their own drinking: thank them, do not question them, point to the numbers and the app, and do not promise a secrecy you cannot keep.

What not to do

• Do not diagnose, use labels such as “alcoholic”, or guess who might have a problem.
• Do not give medical advice, and never tell anyone to stop drinking suddenly.
• Do not ask people to share or to raise a hand. Do not note who asks questions or who stays behind.
• Do not present the app as a replacement for treatment. It is a support companion.

After the session

• Leave the posters and cards where people can take one without being seen.
• Send a short reminder of the help routes in two to four weeks.
• Note which questions came up, for next time. Tell us what worked, at the address on our organisations page.