Capacity for Alcohol Policy Effectiveness Research (CAPER)

1. Capacity for Alcohol Policy Effectiveness Research (CAPER) http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/sections/ph/research/alpol/caper

2. CAPER’s point of departure • Public policy is not a “treatment” aimed at a “subject” (Pawson 2005). • Complex intervention(multiple inter-dependent active ingredients) introduced into a complex system (unstable, adapts to changes, multi-faceted, non-linear behaviour, long-term effects unclear). • It follows that policies are never implemented the same way twice - non-equivalence is the norm.

3. CAPER The “BIG” AIM To help policy makers in predicting the likely impact of policy by starting to answer the questions • In what circumstances, within what time frames, in what respect and for whom is a policy expected to work? • What are the contextual factors and mechanisms that can explain the successful implementation and impact of a policy? • Which policy combinations are particularly effective?

4. Prof Petra Meier Ben Baumberg Prof Moira Plant Prof Peter Anderson (NL) Prof Robin Room (AUS) Prof Tim Stockwell (CAN) Prof Alex Wagenaar (US) Dr Bill Ponicki (US) Dr Paul Gruenewald (US) Dr Liddy Goyder Dr R Maheswaran Prof Alan Brennan Dr Robin Purshouse Prof John Britton (Tobacco) Prof G Hastings (Marketing) Dr Richard Cooper (pharma addictions) Dr Andrew Booth (Evidence synthesis) Prof Joanna Shapland (Crime) Prof Gill Valentine (Youth Culture) Prof John Brazier Prof Aki Tsuchiya (Quality of Life/Wellbeing)

5. Cluster meetings • Pre-workshop meet with internationals • Cluster workshop 2/10/2009 with professional facilitator, attended by 14 of (then) 17 UK & 3 of 6 international members • Part-cluster meetings at KBS Alcohol Epidemiology Conference (Melbourne) and Alcohol Policy AP15 conference (Washington) • Series of 1-to-1 meetings, lots of emails & telephone calls

6. Part 2 Caper Achievements

7. Interdisciplinary Alcohol Policy Effectiveness Research Programme (IARP) • MRC funded, £1.1mwith cluster members Paul Dobson, Andrew Leicester, Ben Baumberg, Ravi Maheswaran, Alan Brennan, Robin Purshouse and others on international steering group • Includes work on: • Time lags • Contextual effects • Alcohol, pleasure and policy • Under-reporting and CBAs

8. Grants/bids associated with CAPER Cluster Funded • Canadian Institute for Health Research: Evaluation and Modelling of Canadian Minimum Pricing Policy – ongoing, led by Canadian cluster member Tim Stockwell • EU FP7grant led by cluster member Peter Anderson, Optimising Healthcare Delivery (ODHIN), a project on the implementation ofalcohol screening and brief intervention, again involving several cluster members. • Home Office Research Study on Alcohol Pricing and Crime with Cluster Member Prof Joanna Shapland - completed in 2009 • EU FP7 grant led by cluster member Peter Anderson and involving various other cluster members including myself - Addictions and Lifestyle in Europe (ALICE RAP Project) -funded 2011-2016, just starting up (not a CAPER bid, but one arising from new collaborations on CAPER) Submitted • MRC NPRI bid for UK branch of the International Alcohol Control Study - under review (led by cluster member Prof Gerard Hastings) • Bid on Alcohol Harm to Third Parties in preparation with Australian and Canadian Cluster Members, UK bid to be submitted to Alcohol Research UK in Dec. Part of the International H2O study, based on previous Australian and New Zealand work in this area. Not funded • ARF/Government of Victoria: Price and taxation policy modelling for the Victoria, Australia • Leverhulme: Use of scientific evidence in the policy process

9. Peer-reviewed outputs in alcohol policy(all associated with funding other than just cluster £10k) Manuscripts in print: Meier, P.  (2011) Alcohol Marketing Research: The Need for a New Agenda.  Addiction 106(3):466-471. • Meier, P.  (2011)  Small beer.  New Scientist 209(2797):22-23. • Meier, P. (2010)  Polarized drinking patterns and alcohol deregulation.  NAT Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 27(5):383-408. • Meier, P.S., Brennan, A., Purshouse, P. (2010) Policy Options for Alcohol Price Regulation: The Importance of Modelling Population Heterogeneity. Addiction 105(3):383-393 • Purshouse, R., Meier, P., Brennan, A., Taylor, K., Rafia, R. (2010). Estimated effect of alcohol pricing policies on health epidemiological model. Lancet, 375(9723), 1355-64. Manuscripts in submission: • Adjusting for unrecorded consumption in survey and per capita sales data: Quantification of impact on alcohol policy evaluations by Meier, Petra; Meng, Yang; Holmes, John; Baumberg, Ben; Purshouse, Robin; Hill-McManus, Daniel; Brennan, Alan - submitted to Addiction • The temporal relationship between per capita alcohol consumption and harm: A systematic review of time lag specifications in aggregate time series analyses by Holmes, John; Meier, Petra; Booth, Andrew; Guo, Yelan; Brennan, Alan, submitted to Drug and Alcohol Dependence Report: Home Office Research Report Alcohol Pricing and Criminal Harm: a Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Published Research Literature http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/alcohol-drugs/alcohol/alcohol-pricing/rapid-evidence-assessment?view=Binary Booth, A., Meier, P., Shapland, J., Wong, R., Paisley, S.

10. Stakeholder engagement • Substantive meetings with senior civil servants (different departments) in 2009, 2010, 2011 (new alcohol strategy), further work for Home Office in 2009, ongoing conversations with DH • Ongoing work with Scottish Government, including linking international expertise into policy making process (Tim Stockwell to visit Scottish Government in October 2011 whilst working with us on MRC project) • Northern Ireland Consultation evidence briefing • Various presentations to international governments/bodies (WHO/EU, Canada, Australia) • Media engagement

11. Future directions • Bridge between micro and macro • Pleasure – neuroscience/ psychology/ economics/ philosophy/ modelling • Existing data pushed to limits • New longitudinal alcohol survey? • Use of GLF data?