New Directions Conference 2015

Addicted to Recovery?
New Paradigms or Recycled Discourses…

39th Annual NDSAG Conference
Thursday 21st – Friday 22nd May 2015, London, UK

The conference will run over the course of 2 days and will feature several distinct symposiums:

Thursday 21st May: “Brains first and then Hard Work.”
(The House At Pooh Corner, A. A. Milne. 1928). This day starts with the concept of ‘brain science’ and its relationship to alcohol,
and then will contrast this with a critical exploration of ‘recovery issues’ for drinkers.

Friday 22nd May: Proving policy or improving practice?
This day develops on the first day’s themes by exploring alcohol policy perspectives and the treatment agenda, followed by an exploration of gambling and alcohol, and then further perspectives from the field.

To conclude, the conference will re-visit addiction for a final plenary to consider what have
we learned and where next?

CONFIRMED CONTRIBUTORS – Plus others to be confirmed at a later date:
Prof. Keith Humphreys (Stanford University, USA)
Prof. Jim Orford (University of Birmingham)
Prof. Marc Lewis (Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands)
Prof. Anne Lingford Hughes (Imperial College, London)
Prof. Colin Drummond (National Addiction Centre, Kings College London)
Prof. David Best (Sheffield Hallam University and Monash University, Australia)
Clive Henn (Alcohol Policy Team, Public Health England)
Pip Mason (Pip Mason Consultancy, Birmingham)
Alistair Sinclair (UK Recovery Federation)
Tim Leighton (Action on Addiction, UK)
Dr Niamh Fitzgerald (University of Stirling, Scotland)

contact Andy Perkins/Jenni Turnbull (Conference Administrators) by e-mailing enquiries@f8c.co.uk

Our 39th Annual Conference featured two distinct one day symposiums covering current research and practice in the field of alcohol interventions.

In the 1970’s the New Directions group took on the concept of “Alcoholism”. Their pioneering critiques of the “disease model” and its successors have informed developments in alcohol treatment for nearly 50 years.
In 2015 New Directions explores “Recovery”. Against a background of vested interests scrabbling to claim it for themselves, we will examine the origins of “Recovery” and consider the future for the concept.

Unpicking the issues that surround “Recovery” leading experts will address:
•        Brain science – over hyped or our only hope?
•        Gambling – stacking the odds against getting treatment?
•        New addictions – do we need a campaign for real addiction?
•        Cuts and more cuts – the impact on research and treatment.
•        More New Directions – emerging innovations and opportunities in the alcohol field.


•Conference programme (times & titles) PDF

New Directions conferences always encourage networking, professional and social. 
This year we had two social events.
Wednesday 20th May:Local welcome. Conference attendees will be invited to join us at a local restaurant.
Thursday 21st May:NDSAG reception dinner at a local restaurant.

New Directions Conference 2014

New Directions 2014 Conference
Alcohol Matters... Learning from Scottish Experiences

Wednesday 23rd - Saturday 26th April 2014

Venue: Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Dundee, Scotland

The conference featured three distinct research symposiums:
 Will Independence Change Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol?
 What researchWhat Price a Unit? An exploration of Minimum Unit Pricing research
 Interventions focusInterventions and research focus - an in-depth look at the broad base of Scottish Alcohol Brief Interventions research

This years conference brought together key figures involved in Scottish based contemporary alcohol research. As well as the focus on Scottish Independence, MUP and ABIs, our 2014 conference included our acclaimed annual symposium showcasing new research funded by Alcohol Research UK (formerly AERC).

CONTRIBUTORS
Prof. Jonathan Chick (Queen Margaret’s University)
Prof. John Booth Davies (University of Strathclyde)
Andrew McAuley (NHS Health Scotland)
Mike Inglis (Governor, HMP Perth)
Dr Robert Peat (Care Inspectorate)
Prof. Niamh Fitzgerald (Robert Gordon’s Univesity)
The Sheffield Alcohol Research Group
Tayside Council on Alcohol

FLIER www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2014_flier.pdf
BOOKING FORM www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG_BookingForm.doc

Here you can read a personal summary of the Dundee conference produced by me for the final session, where we plan future conferences,

New Directions Conference 2013

Speakers at our Birmingham Conference included
Prof. Jim Orford, (Birmingham University) , UKATT project and other publications include “Excessive Appetites” (1995) and “Addiction Dilemmas: Family Experiences from Literature and Research and Their Challenges for Practice” (2011)
Dr. Alex Copello (Birmingham University), Dr. Sarah Galvani (University of Bedfordshire), Dr Jim McCambridge (London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine), Pip Mason (consultancy)
And from Alcohol Research UK, Prof. Ray Hodgson (Research Director), Dr. James Nicholls (Research Manager) and Dave Roberts (Chief Executive)


The following details are for information purposes only as the conference has now passed.

Booking details http://www.ndsag.org/booking.htm
http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG_BookingForm.doc

http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2013_flier.pdf
http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2013_ConferenceProgramme.pdf

http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2013_Call_for_papers.pdf 

and bursary prize http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG_Ron_McKechnie_Prize.pdf

Attendees can also submit a poster http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2013_Call_for_posters.pdf

win a bursary to attend New Directions Conference 2013

In memory of our late friend, Ron McKechnie, we're launching a prize - to submit a paper for New Directions Journal and win free attendance and accommodation (includes meals but not travel) at the 2013 NDSAG Conference to be held in Birmingham, England. Your paper should relate to this year's conference theme
Alcohol Spills Over ... Alcohol and the family and other neglected issues


New membership details are available here and you can now join online via PayPal.


Contact contact@ndsag.org for more information about making a submission for the Ron McKechnie Prize.

NDSAG Members' interests

This post will be updated to include a list of current (& past) members of NDSAG and their experience or interests in the alcohol field.  

NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE STUDY OF ALCOHOL COMMITTEE

Wulf Livingston
CHAIR
I currently work as a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Glyndwr University. Before this I spent a number of years teaching on social work courses at Bangor University. 

Prior to my full-time role in academia I worked in a range of community social work settings both voluntary and statutory, working predominantly in the field of alcohol and drugs. 

I am nearing the completion of my qualitative PhD studies at Bangor, exploring the acquisition of alcohol knowledge by social workers. My areas of research and publication interest are alcohol and drugs in social work, service user involvement and recovery. I continue to be an active member of a number of other national and local charities and organisations involved in either specific alcohol and drug research issues or community based recovery agendas (UK
Recovery Academy, British Association of Social Workers - Special Interest Group on alcohol and other drugs, Recycle Cycle Cymru and DARE mountaineering recovery group). 

Prior to social care work, I spent time in the catering industry and directly acquiring knowledge about alcohol and drug use.


Adrian Brown
VICE CHAIR
Alcohol Nurse Specialist in Hospital Liaison.
I trained as a Registered Mental Health Nurse in the Eighties (after briefly dabbling in the metallurgical industry).

I worked in several roles across the West London substance misuse services, mostly since 1994 in the alcohol field with a special interest in quality and information. This meant I got involved in several national projects, such as Models of Care and NICE guidelines and standards for alcohol.

St Mary's Hospital, Paddington: 1998 to 2011
St George's Hospital, Tooting: 2011 onwards
These posts have had two main focuses - traditional liaison with people who have alcohol dependence or repeating patterns of chaotic misuse and the Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) model. IBA had been establised at St Mary's for many years, and was influential in several significant research and recommendation projects. With Robin Touquet, I had worked to constantly update that process and reviewing what we had learned has played a big part in my current role as team leader of the team of nurses working at St Georges.

I've become co-ordinator of London's Hospital Alcohol Liaison Forum, which we set up initially as an informal learning set, because so few people in our organisations understood the role. The membership is quite open, and has grown from four of us in Westminster Camden & Islington to around two dozen hospitals represented.


If you are a member of NDSAG, please post a brief account below, or email me at contact@ndsag.org
(Your contact details not needed here.)

Take New Directions but Learn from Experience !

The rather wonderful FEAD website has a conversation between three leading lights from the NDSAG network.

At any New Directions conference, you can find this level of discourse, formal and informal, and we seek to provide a friendly welcoming network to meet colleagues from across the alcohol field - treatment, research, policy, philosophy and beyond.

http://www.fead.org.uk/contributor.php?contributorid=38

NDSAG conference 2012 Llandrindod Wells

Our annual conference took place in Llandindrod Wells, Powys, Wales from Thursday 24th May 2012 to Sunday 27th May 2012, with the keynote seminar on Friday 25th.

Speakers included

Prof. Stephen Rollnick, (Cardiff University) publications include "Behaviour Change: a guide for health care professionals", 

Prof. Keith Humphreys, (Stanford University) Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and CHP/PCOR associate, member of the White House Commission on Drug Free Communitites and the National Advisory Council of the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Prof. Nick Heather, (Northumbria University) life president of NDSAG and co-author of "Problem Drinking" & "Let's Drink To Your Health!".

For future conference details and updates for 2013 contact Conference Secretary:
Trevor McCarthy, Mobile: 07980  657 573, email trev.mcc@virgin.net

NB The following information will not be updated .

 

Welsh language versions

Conference flier                                                                                    

Call for papers (closed)                                                                    

Ron McKechnie prize (bursary)

NDSAG news feeds

New directions in NDSAG?

In coming months, you'll notice a few changes around the NDSAG websites.

1. We are now on Twitter for very brief updates (pointing you to the news blog or the website).
   You can follow us and find links to other alcohol-related tweets here: http://twitter.com/NDSAG
   
2. There are two URLs for our website www.ndsag.org and www.newdirections.org.uk
   Currently these should be identical, but the latter one will become an archive for 30 years of the New Directions journal (currently being laboriously scanned if anyone has time to help!)
   
3. We've reviewed and simplified membership costs and will be exploring links with similar organisations in the alcohol field and introducing other benefits for members.
   
4. We will be introducing links to recommended publications from NDSAG members and colleagues in the field.

We welcome suggestions and feedback from those interested enough to check out our website, so please do contact us
via contact@ndsag.org

NDSAG Conference: Lancaster 2011

New Directions in the Study of Alcohol Group’s 2011
Annual International Conference took place
Thursday 14th – Sunday 17th April in Lancaster.

Big Drinking and the Big Society Inequality and alcohol problems:

are we really all in this together?

Our 2011 conference addressed the big issues facing alcohol treatment and research.
Public spending is being cut. At the same time the case for investing in more alcohol interventions and treatment has never been stronger with research and policy developments. New Directions 2011 considered the key contemporary issues and challenges facing alcohol service providers and researchers.

Alcohol and Primary Care: Will the overwhelming weight of evidence for the effectiveness of alcohol interventions in Primary Care influence GP commissioning?

Speakers included
Roz Brooks (Norwich)
Donald Forrester (Bedfordshire)
Ian Paylor (Lancaster)
Alex Copello (Birmingham)
Fiona Measham (Lancaster)
Robin Davidson (Belfast)
Sarah Galvani (Bedfordshire)
Trevor McCarthy (Leicester)
Nick Heather (Newcastle)
Adrian Brown (London)
Wulf Livingston (Wrexham)
& a Symposium from the Alcohol Education Research Council


http://www.ndsag.org/downloads/NDSAG2011_programme.pdf