A report examining learning from screening and brief intervention projects across England has been released, available here. The findings were presented by HubCAPP manager Sarah Ward as a poster presentation at the recent Inebria conference. It examines key outcomes and learning from 25 different screening and brief intervention projects, also known in England as Identification and Brief Advice (IBA).
Brief intervention training and projects have been increasingly commissioned over recent years as IBA has been promoted by the national alcohol strategy and a growing international evidence base. However the successful delivery of IBA has been mostly shown to be effective in Primary Care, with understanding more varied in other key settings such as hospitals, sexual health clinics, pharmacies, criminal justice settings and the workplace. The assessment of existing projects and the current SIPS research programme are therefore important in ensuring the development and delivery of effective IBA projects and training.
However the report and alcohol leads have identified a number of challenges to effectively delivering IBA. Demanding practitioner workloads, under-recognition of alcohol misuse (particularly non-dependent) and commissioning barriers have often been highlighted, and projects can be easily sidetracked into working with dependent drinkers. The AERC Alcohol Academy is currently organising an event for alcohol leads to look at how IBA can be commissioned and delivered effectively in order to avoid some of these issues.
See the Alcohol Learning Centre IBA section for a range of resources for commissioning and delivering brief interventions.
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