WHAT IS THE SBIRT PROCESS?
Prescreen: Universal prescreening for alcohol and other drug use is incorporated into the routine in healthcare settings and identifies people with risky substance use.
Screen: For those with a positive prescreen, further screening identifies the appropriate level of intervention required. Screening can be through interview and self-report using validated screening tools such as the AUDIT, DAST, ASSIST for adults and CRAFFT for adolescents.
Brief Intervention: Provided when a screening indicates moderate risk. A BI utilizes Motivational Interviewing techniques focused on raising a person’s awareness of his or her substance use and its consequences, and motivating them toward positive behavioral change. Successful BI encompasses support of the client’s empowerment to make changes. A typical BI takes 5-15 minutes to conduct. Approximately 15.9% of those screened require Brief Intervention.*
Brief Interventions work in two ways: (1) to educate people at low risk about moderate drinking limits, and health risks if limits are exceeded; and (2) to encourage those at risk of health and other consequences to think differently about their use and make changes to improve their health.
Brief Therapy: After a screening result of moderate to high risk (approximately 3.2% of those screened*), a referral to Brief Therapy is recommended. Much like Brief Intervention, this involves motivational discussion and client empowerment. Brief Therapy is more comprehensive and includes assessment, education, problem solving, coping mechanisms and building a supportive social environment, all centered around client goals. Typical Brief Therapy consists of four to six sessions with each session treated as if it could be the last. Brief Therapy encourages a shift in thinking for therapists, engaging clients in the development and implementation of their therapy. Clients are viewed as the experts on their own lives and are encouraged to identify their goals, while the therapist helps them achieve those goals by looking at solutions that innately build on clients’ skills.
Referral to Treatment: Following a screening result of high risk (around 3.7% of those screened*), a referral to treatment is provided. This is a proactive process that facilitates access to speciality care for those requiring more extensive assessment than the healthcare provider offers.
*Figures are based on national average.
SBIRT
WHAT IS THE TARGET POPULATION?
• Target population is the non-dependent substance user.
• SBIRT focuses on raising a person’s awareness of his or her substance use and its consequences, and motivating them toward positive behavioral change.
• The SBIRT practice also serves to prevent individuals from ever becoming addicted.
WHY IS SBIRT IMPORTANT?
• Substance use can affect an individual’s health and life. SBIRT offers people the opportunity to improve their health.
• Currently, treatment resources address only dependent users. SBIRT focuses on preventing individuals from becoming addicted
• For every $100 spent on substance use problems in Colorado, only $0.06 is spent on treatment or prevention. That is less than two percent of the average amount spent on abuse problems in other states.
• SBIRT leads to behavior change that reduce healthcare usage, criminal behavior, disability and even death.
WHAT IS THE SBIRT APPROACH TO SUBSTANCE USE?
• SBIRT treats alcohol and drug use like the healthcare issue it is.
• Screening and brief interventions inform people about health consequences related to substance use and reinforces responsible health behaviors.
• SBIRT is a proven approach in changing behavior to improve health and quality of life.
THE DIFFERENCE SBIRT CAN MAKE
• Universal screening for substance use takes only a few minutes,and in those few minutes the healthcare provider can make a difference in a patient’s life; influencing a person's substance use and improving his or her health.
• A measurable reduction in emergency and inpatient services related to substance use, resulting in cost savings for the healthcare system.
• Expansion of the continuum of care, focusing on prevention before substance use escalates to addiction.
SBIRT COLORADO
FUNDING
SAMHSA awarded a five-year $2.8 million annual grant to State of Colorado Office of the Governor. The grant period concluded on September 14, 2011.
GOALS OF SBIRT COLORADO
• Expand the continuum of care to include universal screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment in healthcare settings.
• Establish the SBIRT practice as a standard of care in healthcare facilities and clinics statewide
