2. Train and support volunteers

Core principles of CICA

• Using a cascade training model, an accredited and standardised two-day Train-the-Trainer course is delivered initially by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) with the support of local alcohol licensing officers
• Training is cascaded by professionals with the support of the alcohol health champion community
• In both the Train-the-Trainer and cascade training, delivery is face-to-face in small groups, with the two-day model adapted locally as required
• Professionals in paid roles are designated to be local CICA coordinators who prepare for the roll-out of alcohol health champion (AHC) training in their area before the first RSPH Train-the-Trainer event
• Local coordinators lead on the recruitment of lay volunteers on to AHC courses, support AHCs with an infrastructure to put knowledge and skills into practice 
• Local coordinators (with the optional support of AHCs) deliver cascade training
• Royal Society for Public Health ‘candidate workbooks’ are used within the training of AHCs, which are assessed and externally verified to award successful participants with the Level 2 qualification in ‘Understanding Alcohol Misuse’

Structure of CICA training events

Day 1 (full day)	RSPH Level 2 Award in Understanding Alcohol Misuse Support individuals to reduce drinking with informal, brief advice Guide individuals towards specialist services with informal signposting  Organise community awareness events Collaboratively work together to reduce alcohol harm Use a range of data sources to capture evidence of alcohol impact
Day 2 (half day)	Alcohol licensing action (half day) Establish community action against alcohol harm in collaboration with a local area alcohol licensing officer Use local processes that contribute to licensing decision-making Create interest and mobilise communities in becoming active in the local licensing process
Day 2 (half day)	Train-the-Trainer Enable participants to prepare and set up training programme material Select appropriate material relevant for training course delivery in their area Use Train-the-Trainer skills from the ‘Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector’ (PTLLS) approach

Evaluation recommendations

• Identify a minimum set of external contextual factors to invest in and establish when preparing for roll-out. 
• Four key enabling factors associated with higher numbers of AHCs trained were: (i) having a named healthcare provider in place who would lead and coordinate the intervention; (ii) delivery specified within an existing contract with local commissioners; (iii) having an existing pool of volunteers to recruit from; and (iv) having formal volunteer induction arrangements in place
• Co-produce a roll-out checklist of tasks to gain community insights into external contextual factors that may affect implementation
• Use a theoretical framework to guide the development of a localised roll-out checklist of tasks to inform decisions as to whether the community is ready to roll-out
  

Members of the Bury CICA team share how they approached recruiting volunteers, the onward support provided to alcohol health champions, and what it meant to be an alcohol health champion.

Where to find published research findings

Burns, E.J., Hargreaves, S.C., Ure, C. et al. ‘A priori’ external contextual factors and relationships with process indicators: a mixed methods study of the pre-implementation phase of ‘Communities in Charge of Alcohol’. BMC Public Health 22, 2224 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889...

Burns EJ, de Vocht F, Teixeira Siqueira N, Ure C, Audrey S, Coffey M, et al. An ‘alcohol health champions’ intervention to reduce alcohol harm in local communities: a mixed-methods evaluation of a natural experiment. Public Health Research (in press)