Reducing alcohol-related harm in disadvantaged men: development and feasibility assessment of a brief intervention delivered by mobile telephone

Background: Socially disadvantaged men suffer substantial harm from heavy drinking. Brief alcohol interventions are effective in reducing consumption when delivered via health care. There is a need for tailored brief interventions for disadvantaged men who seldom attend health care. Objectives: (1) To investigate the best ways to recruit and retain disadvantaged men in a study aimed at reducing the frequency of heavy drinking. (2) To identify the type of content and timing of the delivery that is most likely to engage disadvantaged young to middle-aged men in an intervention delivered by text messages. (3) To determine whether or not the intervention is likely to be an acceptable way to influence the frequency of heavy drinking. Design: A three-phase study involving the development of the recruitment strategy and the intervention, an assessment of the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial, and a post-study evaluation. Setting: Community-based study, conducted in Dundee, UK. Participants: Disadvantaged men aged 25–44 years who had two or more episodes of heavy drinking (≥ 8 units in a single session) in the preceding month. Two recruitment strategies were employed: recruitment through general practice (GP) registers and recruitment through a community outreach strategy. Interventions: Focus groups explored drinking motives and behaviours of the target group. The intervention also drew on reviews of the literature on: alcohol brief interventions, text message studies, communication theory and behaviour change theories and techniques. The intervention group received 36 text messages with images sent over a 28-day period. Main outcome measures: The outcome measures evaluated the likely success of a full trial: recruitment of the participants; construction and delivery of a theoretically and empirically based intervention that successfully engages disadvantaged men; potential for the intervention to influence binge drinking. Results: The focus group analyses identified that personal experience and knowledge of the harmful effects of alcohol was widespread. Furthermore, there was a discrepancy between frequent binge drinking and perceived social expectations and duties. This could usefully be targeted in the intervention. Theoretically and empirically based behaviour change strategies were successfully rendered in attractive, colourful, brief text messages. Both recruitment strategies (GP registers and community outreach) proved successful and a total of