SARG - SCHARR

Recruitment poster from the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG). The headline asks: "DO YOU WORK FOR AN ALCOHOL TREATMENT OR RECOVERY SERVICE?" The sub-header reads: "Share your expertise to help the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) understand the advice given to service users about alcohol-free drinks." Eligibility criteria are listed with icons: 1. Must be aged 18 or over. 2. In a client-facing role now or in the last two years. 3. Based in a non-NHS service in the UK. A "PARTICIPATE NOW" section includes three bullet points: 15-20 minutes, 100% anonymous, and "Help shape national guidance" There is a large QR code and the link https://sarg-sheffield.ac.uk/survey to take the survey. Footer text notes: "This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health Incubator. Reference: NIHR200172. University of Sheffield ethics approval has been obtained. Reference: 072040. The sub-header reads: "Share your expertise to help the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) understand the advice given to service users about alcohol-free drinks." Eligibility criteria are listed with icons: 1. Must be aged 18 or over. 2. In a client-facing role now or in the last two years. 3. Based in a non-NHS service in the UK. A "PARTICIPATE NOW" section includes three bullet points: 15-20 minutes, 100% anonymous, and "Help shape national guidance" There is a large QR code and the link bit.ly/4cFKyFh to take the survey. Footer text notes: "This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health Incubator. Reference: NIHR200172. University of Sheffield ethics approval has been obtained. Reference: 072040.

We're looking for people who work in alcohol treatment or recovery services to complete a survey about what advice is given to service users about alcohol-free drinks: sarg-sheffield.ac.uk/survey Please share to help us reach as many people as possible! #AlcoholRecovery #MentalHealth

Great to read this from the @lhgp.bsky.social team! And a shout out to SARG researchers @charlierosehead.bsky.social and Esther Chanakira for their excellent contributions to the Conference 🙌 #PreventionResearch2026 #PublicHealth

Advertising, Football and the Problem of Self-Regulation In this month’s Member Spotlight, we caught up with Ellen McGrane, Research Associate in Alcohol and Public Health in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group at the University of Sheffield. Althoug…

SARG's Ellen McGrane recently spoke with @afsguk.bsky.social about her research into gambling advertising during live sports. The interview explores the whistle-to-whistle ban, self-regulation, and the challenges of data collection and natural experiments in gambling research. #AddictionResearch

Associations between financial hardship and alcohol reduction attempts in the context of a cost-of-living crisis and alcohol tax reforms: a population study in Great Britain, 2023–25 Rising living costs and changes to alcohol taxation influence drinking behaviours. This study aimed to examine associations between financial hardship…

The latest paper to be published from our project 'Reforming alcohol taxes in a cost-of-living crisis' was led by @drsarahejackson.bsky.social with @jamiebrown.bsky.social @jholmessheff.bsky.social & @victimofmaths.bsky.social. Find out more about the project here: bit.ly/3OGifN3 #PublicHealth

"A promotional graphic for the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG). The top features a blue header: 'STAR Project Newsletter, February 2026'. The background shows a diverse team working collaboratively around a table with sticky notes and maps. A semi-transparent blue text box in the corner states: 'The STAR Project aims to understand how local authorities can effectively incorporate youth voices in the development of policies related to the new national tobacco and vaping legislation.'"

Read the latest newsletter from our STAR Project which is all about incorporating young people's voices into local tobacco and vape policy making: bit.ly/3N2jHc0 Includes insights from our work with young people, info on stakeholder workshops & links to related research and reports #PublicHealth

SARG researchers to showcase local health modelling at the Prevention Research Conference 2026 - Sheffield Addictions Research Group Researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) will present work from the Local Health and Global Profits programme at the Prevention Research Conference 2026 in Birmingham on 4-5 Mar...

Are you attending the Prevention Research Conference next week? Look out for SARG researchers @charlierosehead.bsky.social and Esther Chanakira who will be presenting advanced modelling work from the @lhgp.bsky.social @phiuk.bsky.social programme. Read more on the SARG website 👇 #PublicHealth

The association between gambling frequency and risk of harm: Analysis using health survey data from England and Scotland Background and aims Health economic models can be used to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of public health policies for gambling. To develop such a model, we must understand how gamb...

📢New SARG paper! Led by Esther Moore this study assessed the association between gambling frequency and risk of harm before applying the findings to a hypothetical policy model designed to illustrate how reducing gambling frequency could lower the risk of harm at a population level.

New research shows that spending less on tobacco, gambling and sweets is good for the UK economy - Sheffield Addictions Research Group A new study from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) has found that public health policies which reduce spending on harmful products can actually provide a significant boost to UK jobs and ...

At our SARG monthly meeting, we take a deeper dive into work going on across the team. Today @damonm1989.bsky.social presented the methodology and data behind his recent work showing that reducing spending on harmful products could provide a significant boost to the UK economy. #PublicHealth

Supporting tobacco and vaping policymaking by including youth voices in local authority responses to new national legislation (STAR) - Sheffield Addictions Research Group The STAR project aims to understand how local authorities can effectively incorporate youth voices in the development of policies related to the new national tobacco and vaping legislation.

We had a great meeting between our STAR Project research team and local authority partners yesterday. If you'd like to stay up to date with project progress sign up for our email newsletter below - the next issue will be landing in inboxes soon! #PublicHealth #YouthVoice

Great to see SARG Research Associate @ppermanhowe.bsky.social out and about talking about her forthcoming research into mid-strength alcohol drinks! You can find more about her plans here 👇 #AlcoholResearch #AlcoholPolicy #PublicHealth

Modelling the economic effects of reducing the consumption of unhealthy commodities: An inter‐sectoral input–output approach Aims Industry arguments against public health policies that reduce the consumption of unhealthy commodities often include the assertion that the policy will harm the economy by reducing production a...

New @sarg-scharr.bsky.social study busts a big alcohol industry myth.

Claims that reducing alcohol consumption “hurts the economy” ignore a key fact: people don’t burn the money they don’t spend on alcohol - they spend it elsewhere.

Using UK... 🧵

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New research shows that spending less on tobacco, gambling and sweets is good for the UK economy - Sheffield Addictions Research Group A new study from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) has found that public health policies which reduce spending on harmful products can actually provide a significant boost to UK jobs and ...

New SARG research published in @addictionjournal.bsky.social this week led by @damonm1989.bsky.social has found that public health policies which reduce spending on harmful products can actually provide a significant boost to UK jobs and the wider economy. #PublicHealth #HealthEconomics #UKEconomy

The SPIRE project was funded by the @nihr.bsky.social and the full peer-reviewed findings and detailed list of modelling requirements can be viewed on NIHR Open Research: doi.org/10.3310/nihr...

UK vaping policy modelling: key findings from the SPIRE project - Sheffield Addictions Research Group Hazel Squires shares findings from the SPIRE project which aimed to identify the requirements for a UK vaping policy model, map out existing data that could feed into the model, and identify what addi...

What should a UK vaping policy model look like? In this new SARG blog post Professor Hazel Squires shares findings from the SPIRE project which aimed to identify the requirements for a UK vaping policy model, map out existing data, and identify what additional data are needed. #PublicHealth

The value of an informed opinion – using deliberative methods to engage citizens on corporate influence - NIHR School for Public Health Research Blog by SPHR intern Sachin Weatherburn  Determinants of health  Within South Yorkshire, the gap in life expectancy between the least and most deprived areas is 8.7 years for men, and 7.6 years for wom...

Blog from our intern, Sachin, who worked on our project last summer. We are engaging Sheffield residents on corporate influence and the commercial determinants of health. Read below 👇

sphr.nihr.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

SARG Director @jholmessheff.bsky.social spoke to @thegrocer.bsky.social about the need to formulate a public health response to the rise of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks 👇 #PublicHealth #AlcoholPolicy #NoLo

SARG researcher Dr Parvati Perman-Howe secures NIHR Career Development Award - Sheffield Addictions Research Group We are delighted to announce that Dr Parvati Perman-Howe, a Research Associate within the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), has secured a highly sought-after Career Development Award.

🎉 We are delighted to announce that SARG’s @ppermanhowe.bsky.social has secured an NIHR Career Development Award to investigate the public health impact of mid-strength drinks. Read our news story to find out what her 12-month project will involve 👇 @fohsheffield.bsky.social @nihrsphr.bsky.social

Radio 4 - Listen Live - BBC Sounds Listen live to Radio 4 on BBC Sounds

Tune into BBC Radio 4 right now to hear @jholmessheff.bsky.social speaking about alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks on The Food Programme www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The latest paper from our No/Lo Project explores how public health should respond to the growing market for alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks.

Lots of new SARG papers have been published in the last few weeks - this one, led by @jholmessheff.bsky.social, looks at the public health impacts of increasing the minimum unit price for alcohol in Scotland. #PublicHealth #AlcoholPolicy

Autumn Budget 2025: Analysis of tax and policy changes across alcohol, tobacco and gambling - Sheffield Addictions Research Group In this post, SARG experts analyse the impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on public health. They explore the effects of maintaining inflation-linked alcohol duties and licensing policy changes, new tax ...

How did the #AutumnBudget2025 impact alcohol, tobacco, vaping and gambling? In this new blog post SARG experts @victimofmaths.bsky.social, @drduncgillespie.bsky.social and Ellen McGrane analyse the key policy decisions and their potential impacts on public health sarg-sheffield.ac.uk/blog/autumn-...

***New job advert**
Research Associate in Public Health and Labour Economic Modelling
at the University of Sheffield

on policies involving interventions affecting both health and work outcomes and the interactions between them.

It is a brilliant team
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...

A synthesis of explanations for spatial inequalities in gambling harm: integrating social and material dimensions of place Place matters for understanding patterns of gambling harm as shown by the spatial clustering of both ‘vulnerable’ people and gambling outlets. Harms a…

This new paper synthesises explanations for why gambling harm is unequal across communities. Led by Katie Powell and with SARG's @soc-researcher.bsky.social, @abi-stevely.bsky.social and @zoelclarke.bsky.social. #GamblingHarm #AddictionResearch #PublicHealth

Advancing alcohol policy modelling by integrating alcohol dependence - Sheffield Addictions Research Group Ellen McGrane shares details of a project led by the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions, exploring how to integrate alcohol dependence into alcohol policy modelling. She explains how the team wor...

📢 New on the SARG Blog! Ellen McGrane discusses an @nihr-pruaddictions.bsky.social project exploring how to integrate alcohol dependence into policy modelling. The team worked with policymakers and people with lived experience to develop a roadmap for more equitable models. #AlcoholPolicy

OHID have just updated their Fingertips/Local Alcohol Profiles data with 2024 alcohol mortality figures.

fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/loca...

Good to see things heading in a positive direction for a change.

More details in my thread from a couple of months ago:

bsky.app/profile/vict...

Quantitative Research Intern (P/T) at University of Sheffield An opportunity for an academic position as a Quantitative Research Intern (P/T) is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openings.

✨ SARG Internship opportunity ✨ We're currently looking for a part-time Quantitative Research Intern to undertake a three-month research project mapping the type of advice that alcohol treatment and recovery services give to clients on the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks. Find out more 👇

We've got a new paper out in @addictionjournal.bsky.social led by @drsarahejackson.bsky.social looking at trends in cost as a motivating factor for people looking to reduce their alcohol consumption.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A line chart showing cash-terms (i.e. unadjusted for inflation) alcohol duty rates by type of alcohol since 1979. These have increased steadily over time, particularly between 2008-2013 under the 'duty escalator', except for under the previous coalition/Conservative government when they fell or remained at the same levels for almost a decade.

The same graph, but after adjusting for inflation. This tells a very different story with the lines all trending down over time, except for the duty escalator period, when they rose briefly. Overall alcohol duty rates are much lower now in real terms than they have been at almost any point in the previous 40-odd years.

A few thoughts on alcohol duty ahead of the budget (and an excuse to update some old graphs).

These two show the important of accounting for inflation - in cash terms alcohol duty rates are higher than ever before, but in real terms they are at historically low levels.

Professor John Holmes contributes to major new report outlining actions to tackle alcohol harm - Sheffield Addictions Research Group SARG Director Professor John Holmes was part of an expert panel that supported the development of 'A Healthier Future: A long-term vision to tackle alcohol harm in the UK', a significant new report pu...

SARG Director @jholmessheff.bsky.social was part of an expert panel that supported the development of 'A Healthier Future: A long-term vision to tackle alcohol harm in the UK', a significant new report published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies @ias.org.uk this week. @fohsheffield.bsky.social

Our new paper discusses the challenge of how clinicians and other treatment providers should respond to the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol (no/lo) products by patients with, or at risk of developing, severe alcohol-related health problems including AUD and ARLD. #PublicHealth #AlcoholHarm