Strategies to support midlife women to reduce their alcohol consumption: an Australian study using human-centred design

Abstract

Alcohol consumption is causally associated with long-term health-related consequences, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, and short-term harms, such as accidents and injuries. Alcohol consumption has increased among midlife women (aged 40-65) over the last two decades in high-income countries. This study aimed to centre women's voices by using co-design methodologies to investigate what women identify as strategies that could assist them and other women their age to reduce their alcohol consumption. Human-centred design workshops were undertaken with 39 women, and conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyse information from written workshop materials to develop categories in the data and count their occurrence. Six categories, or strategies, emerged, listed here from most to least represented: 'Participate in alternative activities to drinking alcohol', 'Track alcohol consumption and set goals', 'Seek support from family and friends', 'Drink alcohol-free beverages', 'Reduce supply of alcohol in the home' and 'Seek professional support'. Our findings identify strategies that are realistic and feasible to midlife women; our sample, however, likely reflects a more affluent subsection of this group, and as such, any focus on individual-level strategies must be complemented by policies that increase equitable access to healthcare and act on the social and commercial determinants of health. An intersectional approach to alcohol and other drug research is required to examine how the interplay of gender and other markers of social identities shape alcohol consumption.

Keywords: alcohol; human-centred design; midlife; participatory research; women.