The Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital

Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

Brief Interventions

Brief interventions (BI), consisting of one to five sessions delivered by a variety of professionals have proved to be an effective approach across a diverse range of populations and health issues. If a patient screens positive for a risky drinking problem, BI can be delivered by a trained health provider to assist the patient to change their at risk drinking behaviors, or to prepare the patient for referral to more intensive treatment should their level of alcohol misuse warrant this.

There are several different approaches for engaging a patient in a brief intervention. Some medical oriented centers choose to utilize a motivational interviewing approach. The goals of the intervention are to:

1. Assess with the patient the degree to which the patient engages in hazardous alcohol use,

2. Establish a link between alcohol use and the injury or establish a link between alcohol use and other life problems,

3. Elicit from the patient a plan for reducing the link between alcohol use and other hazardous behaviors which may lead to injury or other life problems, and

4. Establish the patient's commitment to the plan he/she developed.

Critical Decision Point: Who should deliver brief interventions for those patients that screen positive?

A variety of health professionals ranging from physicians to nurses to social workers are all options for delivering brief interventions. It is important for institutions to define which professionals will be responsible for delivering brief interventions and how this responsibility will be integrated into their existing job description.

Critical Decision Point: Where should the brief intervention be delivered?

Brief interventions can vary in length (as little as 5 minutes to as much as 60 minutes) and can be delivered in one session or multiple sessions. It is important for institutions to define where the brief intervention will occur (within patient’s room, another location within hospital) and how long interactions will occur on average.

View examples of brief interventions in the emergency department.

Current Topic: Brief Intervention

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