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The deadline for applications is November 5th 2009
Call For Proposals
Investigating the Effectiveness of Education in Relation to Alcohol
Introduction
The Alcohol Education and Research Council (AERC) invites proposals to undertake the above study. The Drinkaware Trust is providing the AERC with funding for the study.
The AERC
The AERC is a registered charity (no. 284748) and Non Departmental Public Body (sponsored by the Department of Health) established in 1982 in order to reduce the impact of excessive alcohol consumption in the UK. It is governed by a board of trustees, who are supported by a small staff team. Its mission is:
“To reduce levels of alcohol related-harm by ensuring that policy and practice can always be developed on the basis of reliable, research-based, evidence.”
To achieve this, the AERC funds peer-reviewed research that explores approaches to alcohol harm prevention and helps to build the evidence base. It also makes grants to help build the capacity of individuals and organisations involved in the field of alcohol harm prevention.
The AERC is currently going through an exciting period of transition. Historically, the organisation has relied on the income generated its own endowment; however, it is now increasing its ability to fund research by working in partnership with others. The vision for 2014 is that the AERC:
“will be a major contributor to actual reductions in alcohol-related harm through its role as the leading independent provider of reliable, research-based, evidence to all of the major agencies involved in developing alcohol policy and practice.”
Drinkaware
Drinkaware is an independent UK-wide, public facing body with the objective of positively changing public behaviour and the national drinking culture to help reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol-related harm.
Drinkaware is a charity, supported by voluntary donations from across the drinks industry and aims to equip people with the knowledge they need to make decisions about how much they drink. The organisation has discretion to apply donations in furtherance of its aims, without influence from the industry.
Drinkaware has main target audiences of Under-18’s, 18-24 year olds and 25-44 year olds whose drinking puts them at risk of long term harm. With regards to under-18’s, its objectives are to:
- Increase the level of awareness of the short and long term harmful effects of alcohol
- Increase the level of awareness of the short and long term harmful effects of alcohol amongst parents
- Increase the level of awareness of the dangers of drinking at too young an age amongst parents
- Increase the average age of regular unsupervised drinking
Curriculum work, along with campaigns, online & digital activity, resources, publications and research are key areas of the youth strategy.
Research Objective
Over the last six months Drinkaware has been investigating how best to approach and be involved in school based alcohol education across the UK. Several organisations and programmes have been brought to its attention. However, in order to make an informed decision on how best to proceed, Drinkaware feels that a thorough examination of all methods is needed. For instance, Drinkaware needs to determine whether it should itself introduce new educational resources (or updated versions of its existing resources) or whether it would be more effective to provide professionals with independent information and reviews of resources that are already provided by others.
The research should answer the following questions:
- Have there been effective methods for the prevention or reduction of alcohol misuse in the primary, secondary and further education settings in the UK. For example, peer education, theatre in education or teacher led? If so, which have proven to be the most effective?
- Have there been effective measures in other areas of health education e.g. smoking, drugs or sexual health in the UK and if so is there a rationale for them working with alcohol?
- How well do educational approaches perform when compared to other approaches? Do they perform differently when delivered in isolation or when delivered as part of a range of measures?
- Is there any evidence to show that alcohol education is effective/ more effective when covered as a separate topic or when combined with other health topics such as drugs?
- Are there differences in what does work/doesn’t work across different regions of the UK?
- Is there evidence to show that alcohol education adapted to the local community setting is effective?
- Are there any specific UK projects that can be referred to as best practice?
- Have the industry, Government or independent organisations introduced particular education approaches in the UK and if so do any of them have potential for further application?
- Is there scope to use external organisations within the alcohol education curriculum in the UK and if so how?
- Are there any educational resources on alcohol that have proven to be effective for use in primary, secondary and further education settings and if so which are most effective?
- Is there learning or examples from outside the UK which can be practically and effectively transferred for use in the UK curriculum? Is there any evidence of a change in the long-term knowledge and behaviours of children participating in such programmes?
Methodology
We expect applicants to devise methods of searching for and identifying promising approaches but the following guidelines might be useful
The study is to be divided into two stages – a scoping exercise, followed by a systematic review of existing literature. There is potential for a third stage involving primary research; however, this would be explored later and does not form part of the current tender.
Stage 1 is an initial scoping exercise to determine the extent of existing material and whether there is sufficient existing evidence to undertake a sensible review of the above issues. This should start with key documents, such as World Health Organisation reports and propose a method of considering the effectiveness of various approaches.
Only if the scoping exercise determines that there is indeed a sufficient basis for proceeding would the project move onto Stage 2. This would involve a systematic review of existing literature and would look at interventions that are applicable to British culture, even if the research was carried out in the US or Australia.
The potential Stage 3 would be to undertake some primary research. This option would be explored with the AERC and Drinkaware if (i) the scoping exercise (Stage 1) suggests that there is an insufficient basis for moving onto the review (Stage 2), or if the review (Stage 2) indicates that primary research is necessary to properly address one or more of the above questions. There is no guarantee that either the AERC or Drinkaware would wish to, or be able to, proceed to a third stage.
At the end of each stage, the researcher(s) would join the AERC in presenting their findings to Drinkaware. This may involve travel to a meeting in London. A report should be produced at the end of stage 2, which the AERC will seek to publish in a peer reviewed journal and to make publicly available. The report would be owned by Drinkaware.
Standards
Proposals must comply with the AERC’s policies on research funding, which are available at:
Timeframe
|
23 Oct 2009 |
Deadline for proposals |
|---|---|
| w/c 23 Oct 2009 | Peer review of proposals (not all proposals may progress to peer review) |
| 30 Oct 2009 | Successful researcher(s) notified |
| 30 Nov 2009 | Stage 1 completed |
| Early Dec 2009 | Researcher(s) meet with AERC to discuss findings |
| Early Dec 2009 | Agreement to proceed to Stage 2, subject to Stage 1 being positive |
| Early Nov 2010 | Stage 2 completed |
| Early Nov 2010 | Report and Insight Guide (see Appendix 2) presented to AERC/ Drinkaware and published |
Budget
The maximum grant for Stage 1 is £4,375.
The maximum grant for Stage 2 is £40,250
The grant for Stage 3 (primary research), should this be under consideration, would be discussed at the time. There is no guarantee that funds would be available to proceed to Stage 3.
Grant payments will be made in accordance with the process set out in Appendix 2.
Selection
Proposals will be peer-reviewed by experts appointed by the AERC. The decision as to which proposal will be accepted will be made by the AERC’s Research and Development Sub-Committee. Drinkaware is not involved in the selection process and should not be contacted directly
Consideration will be given to the extent to which proposals align with the call’s remit, scientific quality or methodologies, innovative methods and ideas, expertise of the research team, demonstrated track record of undertaking and delivering work of this nature, potential to contribute and advance the existing research base and value for money.
Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Dave Roberts (Chief Executive), or Professor Ray Hodgson (Director) of the AERC at:
Alcohol Education & Research Council
EH 1.4 - Eliott House
10 - 12 Allington Street
London SW1E 5EH
Tel: 020 7808 7150
Fax: 020 7808 7151
The deadline for applications is November 5th 2009
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