Introduction
Alcohol is among the widely abused substances in the United States. Alcohol addiction has adverse effects on an individual’s physical, mental and social wellbeing. Overall, according to the Addiction Center (2019) 88,000 Americans die annually due to alcohol consumption. Moreover, it is estimated that in the U.S., approximately 6 individuals succumb everyday to alcohol poisoning, and 30 die everyday to alcohol-related accidents. Last but not least, alcohol addiction is an issue in the U.S. since about 7% of the 15 million American adults having an alcohol disorder receive treatment (Addiction Center, 2019). It is also essential to note that men are more likely to become addicts as compared to women.
SBIRT description
It is divided into three components
Screening – It entails the process of assessing the risk. In this stage, the health practitioner asks the patient three questions regarding the quantity and frequency of alcohol use by employing the AUDIT-C tool. If the responses to the first three questions suggest higher than the standard unhealthy use, the patient is asked seven more remaining questions of the AUDIT-C tool (Barata et al., 2017). Apart from the AUDIT, other tools that can be used include the ASSIST, CAGE, CRAFFT, RAPS, T-ACE, and TWEAK.
Brief Intervention – This comprises of a behaviour change technique that emphasizes on assisting the patient in minimizing or stopping unhealthy drinking. If screening evidences unhealthy drinking, the health practitioner can provide normative behavior information or simple advice about the adverse effects of drinking, compare their drinking to others of their age and gender and ask the patient if they are willing to change (Barata et al., 2017). Brief intervention is beneficial to many; however, not all patients can make changes.
Referral to Treatment and Follow up – In this last stage, the patient is linked to specialized alcohol addiction treatment and is periodically contacted post-treatment to ensure treatment success. Addiction treatment is most applicable in cases where alcohol consumption is more intensive (Barata et al., 2017).
SBIRT Institute (2011) illustrates a real-life example of how the above described SBIRT techniques were employed on a college patient with an alcohol disorder. In the video, the medical practitioner begins by determining the quantity of alcohol the patient consumes daily. She then goes ahead and tells her the adverse effects of drinking on women with age similar to that of the patient. Moreover, she offers simple advice by enabling the patient to understand the consequences of drinking, such as her head injury. She finalizes the session by referring the patient to her primary doctor, who might be help her cut back on her drinking.
Problem Description
According to Romano, de la Rosa, Sanchez, Babino & Taylor (2016) in 2017, alcohol was present in all drug-related deaths in Florida, and it was ascertained to be the cause of death for 18% of the victims in which it was identified.
Moreover, there was a 10.2% increase in the number of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests in Florida in 2016 as compared to 2015 (Romano et al., 2016).
Community Resources
There are both federal and private institutes that help promote sober living among alcohol addicts. One of the federal programs in the Miami area include the Miami-Dade County Addiction Services Board (ASB) (Addiction Center, 2019). The ASB was established in 1990 with the objective of improving the coordination of substance abuse prevention and treatment services, by uniting with the Miami Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free Community. The organization provides a comprehensive inpatient and outpatient treatment to individuals with substance abuse disorders including alcohol addiction. The services are provided via assessment, intervention, direct treatment, case management and referral.
Another community resource in Miami is the Harbor Village Detox (Addiction Center, 2019). The institute provides comprehensive and personalized residential and outpatient programs in Miami. Several therapies used in harbor Village Detox include the cognitive behavioral, psychopharmacological, art, and motivation enhancement therapy, counselling and 12 step meetings.
Lastly, there are groups such as the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) that hold multiple meetings in the Miami city. The function of the AA is to assist its members stay sober through mutual support and sponsorship.
Conclusions
Alcohol addiction is a public health concern affecting Miami and the United States as a whole. Therefore, there is need to integrate programs that combat the issue. SBIRT has proven to be an effective method of handling. Nurses are a key profession to use SBIRT since they spend most of the time with patients as compared to doctors.
References
Addiction Center. (2019). Drug rehabs in Miami, FL.
Barata, I. A., Shandro, J. R., Montgomery, M., Polansky, R., Sachs, C. J., Duber, H. C., et al. (2017). Effectiveness of SBIRT for alcohol use disorders in the Emergency department: A Systematic Review. The western journal of emergency medicine, 18(6), 1143–1152.
NDEWS. (2017). Southeastern Florida (Miami Area) Sentinel Community Site (SCS) Drug Use Patterns and Trends, 2017. Web.
Romano, E., de la Rosa, M., Sanchez, M., Babino, R., & Taylor E. (2016) Drinking and Driving Among Undocumented Latino Immigrants in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 18 (4), 935-939.
SBIRT Institute. (2011). SBIRT for alcohol use: college student [Video file].