New APHA Manual Serves as Alcohol Screening Tool for Health Professionals

Brief, one-on-one interventions have proven effective in cutting down on risky drinking behaviors, and the American Public Health Association (APHA) released a new manual in March (2009) giving public health professionals the tools they need to conduct such screenings and brief interventions.

The "Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention: A Guide for Public Health Practitioners" manual, which was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of APHA's Public Health Traffic Safety Institute, gives background information and practical steps for conducting a screening and brief intervention in a variety of public health settings.

"Until now, screening and brief intervention has been conducted in emergency room settings, in primary care and in a few other settings, but not broadly in the public health sector," said Anara Guard, MLS, one of the manual's authors and a former chair of APHA's Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section. "We hope that this new tool will encourage more screening and brief intervention — with referral to treatment or to more extensive resources as needed — in more locations by more practitioners."

As the manual points out, alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the United States and is a leading cause of illness and death. Nearly three of 10 American adults drink in a risky way, which can mean anything from occasional binge drinking to daily heavy drinking. And in addition to impacting individual health, alcohol use is a factor in many injuries, including up to 50 percent of fatal motor vehicle crashes, up to 70 percent of homicides and 60 percent of drownings.

Said Mighty Fine, MPH, an APHA public health analyst. "Research shows brief, nonjudgmental intervention has a positive long-term effect on risky alcohol use." The manual defines a brief intervention as "time-limited" conversations between an at-risk drinker and a practitioner, with the goals of helping the drinker increase awareness of alcohol use and its consequences, and encouraging the person to stay within safe drinking limits. The conversations typically last 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

The manual outlines a public health practitioner's goals during an intervention and explains how to choose a screening tool. The right tool depends on many factors, including the key characteristics of the target population, the allotted time for screening and whether the tool should be self-administered.

For more information, e-mail mighty.fine@apha.org or call 202-777-2493. Download a copy of the manual at http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/clinical-practice/alcohol_screening_and_brief_interventions_a_guide_for_public_health_practitioners.pdf. For more news from The Nation's Health, visit www.thenationshealth.org.

-From “New APHA Manual Serves as Alcohol Screening Tool for Health Professionals”, The Nation's Health on Medscape Today, Donya Currie, Published: 07/13/2009, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704941, retrieved 7/22/09.

 

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