Brief conversations about alcohol

Fully funded brief conversations about alcohol training

Do you want to feel more confident when having brief conversations about alcohol?

Do you think that alcohol might be a factor in a patient or client’s life, but you're not sure where to signpost them to for support?

Book onto one of our free monthly Brief Conversations About Alcohol Events, or book your team’s bespoke session now.

Limited training places are available. Contact the Health and Wellbeing Training Team to book a place, or for more information.

See more information on brief conversations about alcohol:

Alcohol Identification Brief Advice
Brief Conversations About Alcohol Events
Brief Conversations About Alcohol bespoke training
Health Education England Alcohol IBA training

Alcohol Identification Brief Advice

The York Public Health team offer ‘Brief Conversations about Alcohol’ training to frontline workers and volunteers across York, free of charge.

This training offers an introduction or refresher on skills and information for an approach to conversations known as Alcohol Identification Brief Advice (IBA).

This type of conversation has been shown to be effective in helping people to reduce their alcohol health risk and:

is brief, structured and often opportunistic
helps people to identify what their drinking level means in terms of health risk
offers brief advice to help them to reduce if relevant

Alcohol IBA conversations are short but powerful so we’re keen to make sure people have the confidence and information they need to make them happen.

We run free monthly Brief Conversations About Alcohol Events and also offer Brief Conversations About Alcohol bespoke training.

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Brief Conversations About Alcohol Events

Our events cover:

low risk drinking guidelines and understanding alcohol units
the AUDIT questionnaire and advice website, from Live Well York
an introduction to skills for effective conversations about alcohol (motivational interviewing techniques)
local services and tools for signposting to help people reduce their alcohol consumption

Upcoming face-to-face events

Our 90 minutes face-to-face sessions take place in the Giles Room at West Offices.

There are currently no upcoming face-to-face events.

Upcoming online events

Wanting to feel more confident having brief conversations about alcohol with clients, patients or team-members?

We are pleased to announce “Brief Conversations About Alcohol Training” – is delivered for free by York City Health Trainers to anyone working with York residents.

Join our sessions to:

gain relevant information to support positive conversations about alcohol reduction
develop valuable relationship-building skills
access up-to-date information about support services available in York
promote positive lifestyle change amongst clients, patients and residents

When: Tuesday 3 November 2026, 12.30pm to 1.45pm

How to book

Email healthandwellbeingtraining@york.gov.uk to reserve your place, or book through MYLO if you're a City of York Council employee.

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Brief Conversations About Alcohol bespoke training

We offer bespoke sessions in which we can focus on what your team would find most helpful. We'll take into account:

any training around alcohol your team has already had
whether alcohol is already routinely discussed with customers, clients or patients
realistic training length and timings and preferred type of delivery mode (face-to-face, online, or a mix of both)

To discuss bespoke training for your team contact the Health and Wellbeing Training Team.

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