Client Experiences of a Telephone-Delivered Intervention for Alcohol Use: a Qualitative Study

Telephone-delivered interventions for mild-to-moderate alcohol problems are becoming increasingly available. This study explored experiences of Ready2Change (R2C), a multiple-session outbound telephone-delivered psychological intervention for mild-to-moderate alcohol use disorder, to inform treatment uptake and scalability strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 participants (mean age = 37.97, 46% female) and analysed thematically, focusing on how R2C’s telephone modality and content afforded or constrained opportunities to reduce alcohol consumption. R2C’s modality afforded novel opportunities: sense of anonymity in receiving treatment, outside of traditional hours. R2C’s content allowed clients to tailor treatment to their needs and develop a therapeutic relationship despite the distance-based modality. Some participants were constrained by the lack of face-to-face interaction, perceived to limit rapport development. Social pressure was identified as constraining R2C’s effectiveness for some participants, which is also a constraint of available treatments more broadly. Telephone interventions can overcome treatment barriers and add capacity to the AOD sector.