5 ounces of table wine is 12% alcohol which equals 12 ounces of regular beer at 5% alcohol which equals 1.5 ounces of liquor at 24% alcohol.

18Apr2023

Alcohol Awareness Month: A Time for Reflection and Action

Alcohol Awareness Month:

A Time for Reflection and Action

By David A. Sleet, PhD, Senior Associate, Bizzell US

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about alcohol harms and take action to prevent them, both at home and in the community.

Data from the World Health Organization found the harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions. Worldwide, 3 million deaths every year result from harmful use of alcohol. Overall, 5.1 percent of the global burden of disease and injury is attributable to alcohol, as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use was responsible for more than 140,000 deaths each year in the United States during 2015–2019, or more than 380 deaths per day. There is clear evidence that heavy drinking, even on a small number of days increases risks to health.

Excessive drinking is also costly, reaching $249 billion in 2010, or about $2.05 per drink. Most (77 percent) of these costs were due to binge drinking, defined as drinking four or more alcoholic beverages per occasion for women or five per occasion for men. Further, two of every five dollars were paid by federal, state, and local governments, demonstrating that we are all paying for excessive alcohol use.

It is well known that alcohol is strongly associated with death from motor vehicle crashes, drowning, falls, workplace injuries, fires, burns, suicide, and violence^[1]Chikritzhs, T., & Livingston, M. (2021). Alcohol and Risk of Injury. Nutrients, 13(8), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082777. Alcohol also has what is regarded as “secondhand harms,” defined as harms to individuals as a result of someone else’s drinking — estimated to affect one in five adults annually^[2]Nayak, M., Patterson D., Wilsnack, S., Karriker-Jaffe K., and Greenfield, T. (2019). Alcohol’s Secondhand Harms in the United States: New Data on Prevalence and Risk Factors. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 80(3), 273-281. https://doi.org/10.15288%2Fjsad.2019.80.273.

A recent analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation even suggests that for young adults aged 15-39, there are no health benefits to drinking alcohol, only harms. The harms they are most likely to experience involve injuries. Both males and females under age 40 risked health losses from alcohol use, even when consuming small amounts. For those over age 40, consuming small amounts of alcohol (e.g.,1-2 glasses of wine daily) may provide some health benefits but only among selected groups^[3]GBD 2020 Alcohol Collaborators. (2022). Population-level risks of alcohol consumption by amount, geography, age, sex, and year: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020. Lancet, 400(10347), 185–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00847-9.

We need stronger interventions tailored towards younger individuals to reduce the substantial global health loss attributable to alcohol use. To improve population health, the public should demand greater accountability from those who manufacture, advertise, market, distribute, and sell alcohol.

Actions you can take:

Encourage friends and family to make small changes, such as keeping track of how much they drink – daily, weekly, or monthly – and setting safe drinking limits.
Find effective ways to talk to your children about the risks of alcohol use and the dangers of underage and binge drinking.
Support health care efforts to curb alcohol-related illness and disease by screening patients for alcohol problems, obtaining routine blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) for injured patients, and by strengthening laws that limit the availability of alcohol to underage youth.
Avoid driving after drinking and support state government initiatives to enact per se laws for alcohol impaired driving to 0.05 percent BAC, from current laws at 0.08 percent.
Limit alcohol intake to two drinks or less a day (if you are a man) and one drink or less a day (if you are a woman), on days when alcohol is consumed.

References

[1] Chikritzhs, T., & Livingston, M. (2021). Alcohol and Risk of Injury. Nutrients, 13(8), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082777

[2] Nayak, M., Patterson D., Wilsnack, S., Karriker-Jaffe K., and Greenfield, T. (2019). Alcohol’s Secondhand Harms in the United States: New Data on Prevalence and Risk Factors. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 80(3), 273-281. https://doi.org/10.15288%2Fjsad.2019.80.273

[3] GBD 2020 Alcohol Collaborators. (2022). Population-level risks of alcohol consumption by amount, geography, age, sex, and year: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020. Lancet, 400(10347), 185–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00847-9

side view of a person's head with a sunset image in it

15Jun2022

Learning to Walk: Telehealth’s Development Signals Improved Behavioral Health Care Access

June 15th, 2022 (Lanham, MD) More adults and youth are struggling with their mental health and well-being as the pandemic continues. Nearly four in ten American adults experienced anxiety or depression symptoms during the pandemic, compared to one in ten pre-pandemic (Panchal et al. 2021). Similarly, depression and anxiety among youth have nearly doubled since the pandemic and are particularly impacting youth from historically underserved populations (Office of the Surgeon General, 2021; Racine et al, 2021). Yet, access to mental health services and treatment has not kept pace with the increased need and demand for services. In 2021, nearly 25 percent of adults did not receive treatment for mental illnesses (Mental Health America, 2021).

Telehealth is a growing sector of service delivery that is poised to address some of the gaps and barriers to mental health care. The June 2022 Behavioral Health Spotlight, published by the Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC), discusses tele-behavioral health’s significant expansion during the pandemic, its benefits, and important considerations for its utilization moving forward. “It is still early, but tele-behavioral health shows great promise in reducing stigma that some associate with mental health and substance disorder treatment and providing accessible mental health care capacity in hard to serve areas of the U.S.,” said William Scarbrough, BHARC Advisor and Vice President, Health Solutions at The Bizzell Group (Bizzell). “Additional rigorous evaluation is needed to address concerns regarding quality of care, privacy, and third-party data and information sharing.” BHARC is funded by Bizzell.

The BHARC Behavioral Health Spotlight is a thought leadership series highlighting various behavioral health topics that impact communities across the United States and abroad. “Telehealth’s Potential for Expanding Behavioral Healthcare Access” was written by Nancy Bateman, MSW, a Senior Public Health Advisor for Behavioral Health Services at Bizzell. It provides a current snapshot of tele-behavioral health, drawing from recent literature.

About BHARC
The Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC) is an authoritative source for behavioral health information, insights, technical assistance, training, and innovative tools. BHARC is a mechanism to share evidence-based behavioral health interventions and best practices. The BHARC Advisory Council consists of experts in substance use, mental health, clinical trials, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare standards and quality. Learn more about the Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center at BHARC.org.

About Bizzell
Established in 2010, Bizzell US is U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) HUBZone certified strategy, consulting, and technology firm with a mission to improve lives and accelerate change. Bizzell US develops innovative solutions to some of the most critical issues of our time such as health care services equity, global health, workforce innovation and other urgent needs facing the world. Under the leadership and vision of founder, Anton C. Bizzell, MD, the company has grown into a thriving firm headquartered in New Carrollton, Maryland with staff and offices in various regions around the country including California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Georgia, and globally in Africa, Asia, and Central America. Learn more about how we develop data-driven, research-informed, innovative solutions to complex-real-world challenges. Learn more at BizzellUS.com.

10Jul2021

Mobile Clinics Tested as a Way to Treat Substance Use Disorders

Mobile health units may be able to help manage HIV infections and opioid use disorder. A clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, aims to determine mobile clinics’ effectiveness and usefulness in opioid use disorder treatment. The clinical trial will have 860 participants, for 26 weeks and in five cities—Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Researchers will evaluate whether these mobile health units will help people to treat opioid use disorder and prevent or receive care for HIV/AIDS.

“If they have HIV/AIDS, it can then be transferred to another person,” said Anton C. Bizzell, MD, a physician who advocates for addressing healthcare disparities and the chief executive order of the Bizzell Group, tells Verywell. “It’s also important to know that we can decrease the incidence of substance abuse, as well as infections that can occur.” People may be reluctant to access appropriate health care due to stigma and cost. Dr. Bizzell states that if you take the mobile clinics to where people live and work, they are more likely to receive care.

Image Source: Métraux, J. (2021). Verywell/LifeLineMobile [Online Picture]. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/study-investigates-if-mobile-clinics-will-help-people-with-opioid-use-disorder-5190855

2Mar2021

Telebehavioral Health: Technology-Enabled Behavioral Health

March 7, 2021 (Lanham, MD) Across the country and around the world, people’s lives are significantly upended by COVID-19. Research indicates that during quarantine, people can experience poorer mental health, including post-traumatic stress, avoidance behaviors, anger, fear of infection, and frustration and boredom (Brooks et al., 2020). Telebehavioral health became a necessity to provide behavioral health treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, adhere with stay-at-home orders, and maintain social distancing (Wright et al., 2020). Published by the Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC), March 2021 Behavioral Health Spotlight offers insights and commentary on telebehavioral health. Telebehavioral health is an approach to providing behavioral health clinical services, counseling, and health education and information using telecommunication and video communication technologies. Today, telebehavioral health is a standard practice and a rapidly growing approach to deliver clinical services to patients (Paterson et al., 2020). It has been well-received by both patients and providers. “With increasing adoption of telebehavioral health, we can reach the people who need help the most during the pandemic and beyond,” said Anton C. Bizzell, MD, BHARC advisor and CEO of The Bizzell Group (Bizzell). BHARC is funded by Bizzell. The BHARC Behavioral Health Spotlight is a thought leadership series highlighting various behavioral health topics that impact communities across the United States and abroad. “Telebehavioral Health: Technology-Enabled Behavioral Health” was written by Mim Landry, a BHARC Advisory Council Substance Use and Mental Health Expert. The article describes the benefits of and current issues in telebehavioral health and includes a review and commentary of recent literature on this important topic.

About BHARC

The Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC) is an authoritative source for behavioral health information, insights, technical assistance, training, and innovative tools. BHARC is a mechanism to share evidence-based behavioral health interventions and best practices. The BHARC Advisory Council consists of experts in substance use, mental health, clinical trials, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare standards and quality.

About Bizzell

The Bizzell Group (Bizzell) is a strategy, consulting, and technology firm that designs innovative solutions to help build healthy, secure, and sustainable communities in our nation and around the world. Bizzell leverages the combined experience of our diverse subject matter experts to develop data-driven, research-informed answers to the world’s most complex challenges—ensuring our clients achieve their vision and goals. For more information, visit: Bizzell US.

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