Purpose: Within Scotland, health policy changes are being considered to address\ud
the misuse of alcohol. Concurrently, a shifting of professional roles within the\ud
National Health Service is under way. The purpose of the study was to investigate\ud
personal knowledge and attitudes relating to alcohol use/misuse amongst all\ud
final year Scottish occupational therapy students.\ud
Procedure: A self-completed questionnaire was developed for delivery in spring\ud
2009 within scheduled lectures to students (n = 161) at all three Scottish universities\ud
providing occupational therapy education.\ud
Findings: Of those in class, 93% (n = 109) provided completed questionnaires.\ud
There was evidence of gaps in knowledge around the understanding and application\ud
of United Kingdom responsible drinking guidelines; however, students reported\ud
confidence in their professional and personal ability to act effectively in this area\ud
of clinical practice. There was a distinct lack of congruence with key proposals\ud
put forward by the Scottish Government to address alcohol misuse.\ud
Conclusion: Identified knowledge gaps have implications for the alcohol\ud
teaching content of the curriculum in Scotland. Additionally, while investigation\ud
of student attitudes revealed a self-belief in personal and professional skills,\ud
the findings nevertheless stress a need to ensure that the potential value of\ud
occupational therapists’ contribution is more effectively communicated to their\ud
health professional collea
