Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is a comprehensive integrated public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for people with substance use disorders as well as those who are at risk for developing those disorders.
It consists of three major components:
Screening: Assess the patient for risky substance use behaviors using a standardized screening measure (typically the AUDIT, ASSIST, or DAST).
Brief Intervention: Engage a patient showing signs of risky use in a short conversation about their use, using motivational techniques to provide feedback and enhance motivation for change.
Referral to Treatment: For those identified as possibly dependent on a substance or needing additional services, offer information on how to access treatment.
SBIRT is designed for use by providers who don’t specialize in SUD treatment and can be offered in any public health, medical, or related setting, including emergency departments, primary care physicians’ offices, community clinics, and even schools/universities.
A recent study (Babor, Del Boca & Bray, 2017) of over one million people who were screened for drug and alcohol use disorders over a 5-year period evaluated the effectiveness of SBIRT in a variety of medical and community settings.
The study, funded by SAMHSA, found SBIRT to be an innovative and effective way to integrate the management of substance use disorders into primary care and general medicine. Substantial numbers of patients received recommendations for intervention or treatment, with greater intervention intensity associated with larger decreases in substance use.
Patients receiving SBIRT demonstrated significant reductions in substance use, with some caveats that raise questions about the best ways to implement SBIRT as a public health program. It was also associated with improvements in treatment system equity (the provision of care to patients varying in economic status, race/ethnicity, and setting) and efficiency, and found to be cost-effective, too.
Find more research on SBIRT in PubMed, the database for the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Babor TF, Del Boca F, Bray JW. Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment: Implications of SAMHSA’s SBIRT initiative for substance abuse policy and practice. Addiction 2017;112(Suppl. 2): 110-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.13675
The Northwest ATTC offers a range of SBIRT training and technical assistance (TA) services to health care organizations. The SBIRT services described below may be offered individually or as part of a training/TA package.
If you are interested in SBIRT training or technical assistance please contact us at [email protected].
This 4-hour basic SBIRT training is designed to provide potential SBIRT providers and billers (primary care, emergency department, and behavioral health) with an overview of the background and rationale for SBIRT, along with the details for providing screening, brief interventions, and referral to treatment. The training consists of four modules:
The Northwest ATTC offers SBIRT Training of Trainers for large organizations and health care systems interested in developing in-house capacity to provide the standardized SBIRT training curriculum. The goal of this two-day training course is to prepare trainers with the knowledge and skills to provide the basic SBIRT training.
During day one of this training, participants will review the SBIRT training curriculum along with materials and discuss strategies to engage trainees and prepare them to deliver SBIRT services. During day two, participants will prepare for and practice teaching small portions of the SBIRT curriculum and receive feedback from the master SBIRT trainers and other TOT participants.
At the end of this training, participants will be able to:
Training is just one component of adopting and implementing the SBIRT process. The Northwest ATTC provides intensive technical assistance (TA) to clinics, emergency departments, and mental health organizations to assist them with SBIRT implementation.
SBIRT intensive technical assistance services are designed to support health care organizations implement SBIRT services through providing:
The exact package is customized to meet the needs of the organization requesting training and implementation support.
If you are interested in SBIRT training or technical assistance please contact us at [email protected].
