Alcohol Use in Disadvantaged Populations: Health Equalities and Appropriate Intervention
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 3139
Special Issue Editor
Interests: translational public health research; alcohol screening and brief intervemtion; making every contact count; development and evaluation of complex interventions
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, or environment. Many populations experience health disparities, including, but not limited to, people from some racial and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, women, people who are LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or other), older people, and children. The alcohol harm paradox is the consistent research finding that disadvantaged populations suffer greater rates of alcohol-related hospitalizations and deaths, even though they often consume less alcohol than the more advantaged.
Health equity is the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health. This Special Issue will focus on understanding alcohol use in disadvantaged populations and the role of inequalities in driving alcohol harms. It will also welcome research examining policy, practice, and interventions that might impact disadvantaged populations, reducing harms where they are often most acute.
Prof. Dr. Katie Haighton
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- alcohol
- disadvantaged
- marginalized
- equity
- inequality
- minority
- disability
- women
- LGBTQI+
- older people
- children
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Adopting a holistic approach to alcohol brief interventions for women in a prison setting
Authors: Dr Jennifer Louise Ferguson
Affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law, Teesside University
Abstract: There are currently 3,604 women in prison in the UK compared to 87,000 men (4%). Significantly more females are found to be risky drinkers when they arrive in prison (24%) compared to male prisoners (18%). In addition, those women are more likely to suffer from inequalities in society which contributes to the gendered pains of imprisonment. The overall research methods discussed in this paper are qualitative interviews. The interviews were designed after two systematic reviews exploring: the gendered pains of imprisonment and the feasibility and acceptability of women and alcohol brief interventions (ABI) were conducted. Interviews were conducted in an open prison setting, with both female residents and relevant staff and stakeholders. To date there is a dearth of evidence in relation to delivering ABI’s in prison, specifically with women. The findings of the interviews identified five themes highlighting the women’s journey through prison chronologically to enable a more holistic ABI to be developed in future. This research explored the feasibility and acceptability of delivering ABI to women in prison and found that when delivering ABI’s in a prison setting, by underpinning the research with criminological theory, could help women capitalise on the “teachable moment” necessary to induce behaviour change.
