Staff from the Indiana Prevention Resource Center are partnering with five health centers across the state to implement new techniques to evaluate patients for risks associated with alcohol and substance abuse, according to an IU press release.
Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment, abbreviated SBIRT, will be incorporated into standard primary care.
Each of the centers involved will receive $55,000 in funding over the next 18 months. The five centers are Boone County Community Clinic in Lebanon, Foundations Family Medicine in Austin, Greene County Health in Worthington, IU Health Ball-Family Medicine Residency in Muncie and WindRose Health Network Inc. Countyline Center in Indianapolis.
“Addressing this concern is a team effort,” Mallori DeSalle, SBIRT outreach coordinator and research associate at the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, said in the release. “We are working to decrease hazardous drinking by bringing public health strategies to strengthen prevention, which builds a more holistic approach to health care.”
Studies show harmful drinking is a growing problem nationwide and continues to grow in Indiana. The American Journal of Public Health published a study last month showing that there has been a 9-percent increase in drinking nation-wide.
“Alcohol and drug prevention haven’t always been a regular part of a health care visit,” DeSalle said. “But there are evidence-based ways to discuss alcohol and drug use in a doctor’s visit that work. With the majority of Hoosiers visiting their doctor at least once per year, primary care is an ideal opportunity to discuss health behaviors that may impact a patient’s overall health.”
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