Developing a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program with multiple health...

Substance use is a major public health concern in the United States; only a fraction of people needing treatment for substance use receive care. Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training is one strategy to increase the identification and treatment of substance use. Integrated approaches to SBIRT delivery assure that every patient will be screened regardless of when and how they enter the healthcare system. The Collaborative SBIRT Training program at the University of New England includes 10 different health disciplines in its educational model (dental hygiene, dental medicine, nursing, occupation therapy, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistants, social work, physical therapy, and health, wellness, and occupational studies). This article describes the development and implementation of this program, including steps taken to integrate SBIRT into diverse curricula, challenges and opportunities noted, and preliminary findings observed.