Scales - Resource One
5. What is screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT)?
Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is one approach to identifying patients with excessive alcohol consumption and providing interventions to help them reduce their drinking.
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Screening refers to the rapid assessment of a patient’s drinking behaviour and identification of the advice or treatment that might be needed to help them reduce their alcohol consumption.
Several validated tools are available to assist with screening patients, such as the M-SASQ and AUDIT-C.
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A brief intervention, sometimes called ‘brief advice’, is a short, one-off, structured conversation about alcohol consumption or another lifestyle behaviour. Brief interventions aim to motivate and support individuals to consider changing their drinking behaviour in order to reduce their risk of harm.
- Brief interventions can be:
- a sentence or two of feedback to the patient about his/her drinking based on the screening tool and the person’s circumstances
- a sentence or two of feedback plus an information leaflet or referral to online resources
- Five minutes of advice based on the FRAMES approach (i.e. Feedback, Responsibility, Advice, Menu of options, Empathy, Self-efficacy).
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For patients with higher levels of alcohol consumption or who are alcohol dependent, it is likely to be necessary to refer them for more extensive and longer-term interventions provided by other hospital departments, general practitioners (GPs) or local services and support groups. Discussing the patient’s preferred option with them will help to refer them to the right kind of support.