Improving Rates of Alcohol Relapse Prevention Medication in SLaM Patients

A significant proportion of mental health service users (25%) have a co-morbid alcohol use problem, which leads to worse outcomes in terms of disability and death. Medications which reduce the risk of relapse in those patients who are alcohol dependent (e.g. acamprosate/naltrexone) are effective in reducing alcohol use rates. Preliminary data suggest that these medications are under-utilised in mental health settings, but no clear objective data exists to determine what extent this is true.