Introduction
Alcohol abuse is a common and well-known form of substance addiction that can be extremely dangerous for the general public. Alcoholic drinks are widely available in most grocery shops and many bars, and anyone over the drinking age can access one. The original presentation and this extended exploration for it discuss the community structure, the essence of the problem and the theory and practice behind the SBIRT approach.
Community Description
The community investigated for the purposes of this research is Broward County, Miami, state Florida. It is populated by 1,952,778 people occupying both urban and suburban environments of the region. There are 48.7% of men to 51.3% of women in the region, with 89% of residents being of the high school age or older (“Broward County, FL | Data USA”, 2021). 32.4% of the sample in question possess a level of education equal to a Bachelor’s degree or above, and 12.3% of live beyond the poverty line. These sociologically meaningful characteristics are necessary to contextualize the alcohol abuse problem and analyze it in greater detail.
Problem Description
The problem analyzed in the presentation is related to the increased risks of alcohol abuse by adults of all genders in the region of interest. The statistical data collected from the retail outlets and bars within the community showcase the increase in alcohol consumption, intensified by the urban lifestyle and existing ecology. Most socializing for adults is tied, in one way or another, to alcohol consumption. Risk-free healthy alternatives of leisure exist, but lack in amount, diversity and appeal.
SBIRT, an overview
SBIRT is a treatment model that is commonly practiced in alcohol addiction treatment by medical professionals internationally. It consists of three steps: Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment. Screening is the first stage, during which a professional evaluates how serious one’s problems with alcohol are. Brief Intervention aims to increase patients’ awareness of the problem and motivation to address it, often by introducing educational materials and light forms of psychotherapy (Babor, Et al., 2014). In severe cases, however, the doctor proceeds to the third stage of Referral to Treatment.
Referral to Treatment involves facilitating the patient’s access to more effective and high-profile forms of medical care. Those might be rehabilitation center services, as well as other forms of physical and mental therapy (SBIRT, 2021). The professionals refer patients further down towards more intensive forms of care when Brief Intervention is no longer sufficient for helping them deal with their alcohol addiction.
Other relevant concepts for the understanding of this approach are Use and Process. Use refers to the conceptualizing of the emerging alcohol abuse, that is often linked to consistent or compulsive consumption. It is the first phase since it is tied to the patient’s initial realization or suspicion of their problem. Process refers to the comprehensive coverage of the problem through the existing community resources, such as support networks, therapy groups and other similar programs.
The most common example of SBIRT is its implementation in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The institute recommends frequent and preventive screenings to identify the problem early on and address it as quickly as possible. NIAAA has also designed effective screening tools in form of questionnaires and surveys that can be easily distributed. The outcomes of the approach include early identification of the addiction that would not have been possible otherwise.
Community Resources
Community resources include, but are not limited to, local places of worship and facilitated thematic conversations with their respective religious leaders. The forms issued by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism can also be distributed. Arguably the relative lack of community resources for the sample analyzed might be one of the reasons behind its emerging social alcohol abuse problem. The area could benefit from developing effective support networks for current and recovering alcohol addicts with mutual support.
However, places of worship are not to be discredited, as they combine the main principles of the community resource: Affordability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Availability. They are affordable, for existing outside of the financial domain and the visits are free of charge. They are accessible, meaning any adult can go to a place of worship without difficulty. They are acceptable and even socially encouraged, increasing one’s level of trust within the community. And, finally, they are available, with the area having a large number of existing places of worship.
The community resource’s implications for practice include general community benefits, wider demographical reach and increased efficiency of the local healthcare. Shared medical support within the community and the implementation of more places of worship are beneficial for patients struggling with addiction. Ideally, SBIRT might become an instrument of prevention instead of a reaction tool, with Referral to Treatment cases being kept to an absolute possible minimum and Brief Intervention being sufficient.
SBIRT Implementation
To implement SBIRT within the community, support and collaboration with places of worship and other community resources are essential. Based on the results of such sessions, patients can then proceed to brief intervention or be referred to treatment. SBIRT enables timely identification and intervention (Del Boca et al., 2017) in cases of emerging or persistent substance abuse. It can be implemented through the community systems and has the potential to reduce the alcohol addiction cases in the area, as well as manage the existing ones.
Conclusion
In conclusion, SBIRT is an effective and flexible technique for the prevention of increasing alcohol addiction rates. Due to the availability of two forms of intervention, it is suitable for a wide variety of cases with different levels of severity and other specifics. Finally, being adopted by multiple healthcare institutions internationally, the model is widely accessible to use by many medical professionals almost independently of their individual resources.
References
Babor, T. F., Del Boca, F., & Bray, J. W. (2014). Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment: Implications of SAMHSA’s SBIRT initiative for substance abuse policy and practice. Addiction, 112(2), 110– 117. Web.
Broward County, FL | Data USA. Datausa.io. (2021). Web.
Del Boca, F., McRee, B., Vendetti, J., & Damon, D. (2017). The SBIRT program matrix: A conceptual framework for program implementation and evaluation. Addiction, 112(2), 12–22. Web.
SBIRT: A step-by-step guide. (n.d.). 2021, Web.