Binge drinking or episodic drinking refers to the habit of drinking alcoholic beverages with the main aim of becoming intoxicated through heavy consumption within a short duration. The major economic barriers to healthcare for individuals include sedentary lifestyle and poverty. Sedentary lifestyle among the upper class means that individuals are able to afford to buy the drinks. However, among the poor, binge drinking is a problem because they look for ways to ensure that they escape from the harsh realities of everyday life. Binge drinking becomes an easy scapegoat.
The education levels of individuals usually reflect on their socio-economic status. Individuals who are well educated have a chance likelihood of obtaining well-paying jobs.
As a result, they will be able to pay for health services and obtain proper health attention. However, higher socio-economic status has also been associated among some people with sedentary lifestyle which predisposes to certain health conditions. People who are well-educated are also likely to be well informed, and are able to make good decisions with regard to matters pertaining to their health.
The non-economic factors promoting binge drinking include social reasons and hereditary traits. While there are certain individuals who are genetically predisposed to develop this habit, some develop it when they are influenced by friends.
Nurses can play very important roles in ensuring that patients curb this unhealthy practice. As counselors, nurses can offer such services as brief therapy, a technique which involves counseling patients by educating them on the harmful effects of binge drinking and how they can be bale to stop the habit (Watchtell and Staniford, 2010). Another evidence based intervention mode is text messages. The University of Pittsburgh School of medicine conducted a study reporting that collecting drinking data and providing immediate feedback through text messages among the college students is helpful in reducing drinking habits( Suffoltetto et al, 2013).
References
Watchtell, T. and Staniford, M.(2010). The effectiveness of brief interventions in the clinical
setting in reducing alcohol misuse and binge drinking in adolescents: a critical review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Nursing, Volume 19, Issue 5-6, pages 605–620
Suffoletto, B., Callaway, J., Monti, P and and Clark, D.(2013) Mobile phone text message
intervention to reduce binge drinking among young adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 14:93
