Share your story of how you have been able to drink less and get more out of life, by emailing us at NSLHD-DrinkLessLiveMore@health.nsw.gov.au  

(When submitting your story, NSLHD will use it on its website or in social media to encourage other women to drink less. Names and personal details will be removed unless we contact you for permission. Stories may be edited to improve flow or to highlight a message/quote).

• ​Ripple: Ripple is a project supporting women aged 40-65 in the ACT to reduce the amount of alcohol they drink.
  Visit www.fare.org.au/ripple/ 
• Pregnant Pause: Pregnant Pause is creating a community of support for mums-to-be to have alcohol-free pregnancies. Visit: www.pregnantpause.com.au 
• NOFASD Australia: As the peak national body, NOFASD promotes the prevention, diagnosis, early intervention and management of FASD. NOFASD operates the FASD helpline providing support and resources to individuals, families, pregnant women and service providers across Australia. Phone: 1800 860 613 Visit: www.nofasd.org.au 
• Alcohol. Think Again: The Alcohol.Think Again education campaign is part of a comprehensive approach that aims to reduce the level of alcohol-related harm and ill-health in Western Australia. The campaign uses a mass reach social marketing strategy targeting the community. Visit www.alcoholthinkagain.com.au ​
  

• Hello Sunday Morning: A community of people who support each other as they face similar challenges in changing their relationship with alcohol through the Daybreak app. One-on-one counselling with professional health coaches is available, and all registration costs are subsidised by the Australian Government. 
  Phone: 1300 403 196  Visit: www.hellosundaymorning.org 

• Alcohol and Drug Foundation: Information and referral services. Phone: 1300 85 85 84 Visit: www.ad​f.org.au 

• Family Drug Support: Support for people who are worried about the alcohol and drug use of their family and loved ones.  Phone: 1300 368 186 Visit: www.fds.org.au 

• Smart Recovery Australia: Empowers people to help themselves and each other manage addictive behaviours for the improvement of the health and social wellbeing of the community. Visit: www.smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au 

• Alcoholics Anonymous Australia: AA is an informal society of more than 2 million recovering alcoholics to provide each other strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Visit: www.aa.org.au 

• Turning Point: Turning Point provides 24/7 online counselling to people adversely affected by alcohol, other drugs and gambling. Visit: www.turningpoint.org.au 

• Al-Anon Family Groups: Al-Anon helps families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with someone whose drinking is a problem. Visit: www.al-anon.org.au 

• Supporting Family Conversations: The Supporting Family Conversations website has been designed to meet parents' and schools' information needs, and to support communication between parents and their adolescent children about alcohol and cyber ​safety. Visit: www.supportingfamilyconversations.com.au 

• Domestic violence: 24/7 Sexual assault and domestic violence counselling service. Phone: 1800 737 732 Visit: www.1800respect.org.au 
• Alcohol Guidelines: The NHMRC has guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. The guidelines provide health professionals, policy makers and the Australian community with evidence-based advice on the health effects of drinking alcohol. They also help people make informed decisions about how much alcohol they drink, if any. Visit: www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/alcohol ​
  
  

​A​ims:

• Identify the reasons women aged 35-59 years who reside on the Northern Beaches of Sydney are drinking alcohol
• Explore drinking behaviours that increase the risk of harm
• Implement strategies to reduce alcohol consumption within this group.

Literature review

Key findings:

• 2017-18 data showed NSLHD having the highest rate of alcohol-attributable hospitalisations for women in NSW, 35% higher than the NSW average.
• The Northern Beaches of NSLHD also stands out within the data, with an alcohol-attributable hospitalisation rate 40% higher than the NSW average in 2016-18.
• Females aged 50-59 were the most likely to exceed lifetime risk drinking (drink 2 or more standard drinks per day) compared to all other female groups.
• Limited research and evidence on why women aged 35-59 drink alcohol at quantities that increase the risk of harm.

  Literature review

Qualitative focus groups

Six semi-structured focus groups were conducted in 2019 with a total of 47 women aged 35-59yrs living on the Northern Beaches.

Themes identified for further investigation included:

• Short term release and escape turned habit
• “Go on Have another one": Lived experience of judgement and pressure to fit in
• “It brings us together" Creating and strengthening social connections
• “You don't feel like it's going to kill you right now"

  Focus group design summary

  Focus group finding summary

Quantitative online survey

An online survey based around the focus group themes was conducted. A total of 583 women completed the survey with the following key results:

• 97 % drank alcohol
• 56% believe there is an issue of problematic drinking in this age group on the Northern Beaches
• 60% prefer drinking wine
• 81% reported all gatherings they attend had alcohol present
• 60% reported all child-oriented gatherings they attended had alcohol present
• 53% reported alcohol had no effect on their current or past relationships

  Survey design summary

  Survey key findings summary​​