from a target group towards interaction group: alcohol prevention policy regarding young people in germany

Background: Risk taking behaviour used to be a typical part of the adolescence period during which teenagers start learning to drink alcohol in their responsible way. Risky alcohol use has become a major concern among public health practioners in Europe. After years of increasing numbers of episodic binge drinking among young people, since 2010/2011 consumption levels of the male youth appear to be dropping, while we see no change in risky drinking patterns among young women, however at lower level compared to young men. The 30-day prevalence of binge drinking is about 45 % in male adolescents aged 18-21 compared to 32 % among female adolescents at same age. Consumption of alcohol per capita is in decline, nevertheless Germany is a high consumption country compared to other European countries, still. Road traffic accidents, violence and unwanted sex are the predominant risks for young adults, which are linked to binge drinking. The Federal Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion (BZgA) is an authority in the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Health. The BZgA is strengthening its efforts to reduce risky alcohol consumption as well as its negative consequences. In a Public-Private Partnership with the German Association of the Private Health Insurances (PKV) BZgA launched the largest alcohol prevention campaign for young people in 2009. Its claim: „Alkohol? Kenn dein Limit.“ (KDL), means „Alcohol? Know your Limit“. Key target group are adolescents aged 16 to 20 years, who are legally allowed to drink soft alcoholic beverages (as from 16 years) and spirits (as from 18 years). Long term objective of the KDL Campaign is to increase knowledge on harmful alcohol use, to promote responsible and low risk drinking. KDL uses a multi-level approach: mass communication, personal communication and online communication. The mass media part covers TV/cinema spots, outdoor and bus stop adverts, posters, free cards, brochures and flyers, in order to raise awareness and to disseminate information. The personal communication provides interactive events at school and cinema events, while peer educators are giving basic information, support and advice during the leisure times. Online communication is present at the campaign-website, blog and social networks, such as a dedicated Facebook page and a YouTube-channel, the latter actual under developement. Due to the ubiquitous use of social media today the opportunity to interact with the target group is regarded as great chance for us public health practioners. This kind of direct exchange is going to deepen the involvement of the target group. But it also deepens our own understanding of the actual information needs and deficits in order to improve the the further developement of the KDL campaign. Description: KDL is providing evidence based information, support, and advice on alcohol consumption and self testing tools at the website www.kenn-dein-limit.info. The discussion of different topics such as alcohol related attitudes and behaviour takes place at the campaign blog http://blog.kenn-dein-limit.info as well as at Facebook webpage http://facebook.com/alkoholkenndeinlimit, showing more than 310.000 likes. The basic communication criteria are: provided information has to be trustful, reliable and free of third party’s interests. Furthermore it should be interesting, relevant and useful for the target group, and it should encourage interaction. The BZgA has developed a set of four different types of postings: „figure of the day“, „common myths about alcohol“, „fun facts“ and „alcohol related quotes“. The respond is in some way surprising. „Fun facts“ postings are performing worse than expected, in terms of user engagement. The reason for that seems to be, that young people don’ t expect a governmental institution to communicate in a non serious way. They respond explicitly: don’t tell us jokes, we know who is talking to us, be serious, deliver hard facts. On the other hand the „myth“ postings , like „alcohol is keeping you warm“ are a well accepted way of communication in content and context. These postings evoce further discussion, comments, sharing and liking the provided information. „Figure of the day“ postings, e.g. median age of the first drunkeness are the second best performer, in terms of community response. This state of the facts content is well discussed, shared and commented. Even the sources of these kind of information are required. This reaction is more likely, when the information adresses common attitudes or perceptions related to alcohol. The best results in terms of user engagement was achieved with quote posts such as „don’t drink to drown your sorrows - sorrows know how to swim“. This type of posting is connecting information (alcohol doesn’t solve any problems) with emotionally touching messages. It prompts more liking, sharing and commenting compared to all other types of postings. The affected audience becomes even larger than the adressed community itself, by generating a viral spreading from friend to friend. Conclusion: Not only the content matters to promote participation, interactive communication, but also context and style of the communication. To enhance self reflection and deeper understanding it is essential to deliver the information in an attractive context, which has been found relevant for the target group. Just providing information may be important but is not sufficient in order to change the behaviour. Information which is elaborated through discussion – even online – may transform information into deeper understanding respectively knowledge. Thus it is more likely to have an impact on future behaviour. The target group should be recognized as interaction group. This will help to improve the adaptation and intervention continuously. Nevertheless, prevention and behaviour change will take their time and will need continuous effort at high level. Future research is needed to measure the impact of vivid discussion on people who take part in these discussions in an active way, compared to those who only follow the conversation thread.