Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Effective Alcohol Control Policies: A Scoping Review

Jintana Jankhotkaew; Sally Casswell; Taisia Huckle; Surasak Chaiyasong; Payao Phonsuk

doi:10.3390/ijerph19116742

Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Effective Alcohol Control Policies: A Scoping Review

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 31;19(11):6742. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116742.

Authors

Jintana Jankhotkaew^{1

2}, Sally Casswell¹, Taisia Huckle¹, Surasak Chaiyasong^{2

3}, Payao Phonsuk⁴

Affiliations

¹ Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, Victoria Street West, P.O. Box 6137, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
² International Health Policy Program, Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand.
³ Alcohol and Health Promotion Policy Research Unit and Social Pharmacy Research Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahasarakham University, Kham Riang, Kantharawichai District, Maha Sarakham 44150, Thailand.
⁴ Department of Health Education and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Ratchawithi Road, Ratchathewi District, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

Abstract

Implementation of effective alcohol control policies is a global priority. However, at the global and national levels, implementing effective policies is still challenging, as it requires commitment from multiple stakeholders. This review provides a synthesis of barriers and facilitators to implementing effective alcohol control policies. We conducted a scoping review from two main databases: Scopus and Web of Science, and the grey literature from the World Health Organization's website. We included any studies investigating barriers and facilitators to implementing four effective policies: Alcohol pricing and taxation, control of physical availability, alcohol marketing control, and drink-driving policy. Articles published between 2000 and 2021 were included. The search yielded 11,651 articles, which were reduced to 21 after the assessment of eligibility criteria. We found five main barriers: resource constraint; legal loopholes; lack of evidence to support policy implementation, particularly local evidence; low priority of policy implementation among responsible agencies; and insufficient skills of implementers. Facilitators, which were scarce, included establishing monitoring systems and local evidence to support policy implementation and early engagement of implementing agencies and communities. We recommend that national governments pay more attention to potential barriers and facilitators while designing alcohol control regulations and implementing effective policies.

Keywords: barriers; effective alcohol policies; facilitators; policy implementation.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Marketing*
Public Policy*

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by three main funders. First, the study was supported by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation under the Strengthening Networks and Technical Capacity for Alcohol Policy Development Project. The project is under the WHO-ThaiHealth Memorandum of Understanding on Health Promotion 2018–2020 [grant numbers 61-00-1928]. Second, we also acknowledge financial support from the Capacity Building on Health Policy and Systems Research program (HPSR Fellowship) under cooperation between the National Health Security Office (NHSO), Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC), and International Health Policy Program Foundation (IHPF). Third, we would like to acknowledge the funding support through project of a Scoping Review of Commercial Determinants of Non-Communicable Diseases in Thailand by the International Health Policy Program (IHPP) from the Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI). The funders had no role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the study report, or decision to submit for publication.