For SBIRT Grantees Across the Nation, Flexibility
Helps
By Rebecca A. Clay
One of the main advantages of the SBIRT model is its flexibility:
You can use it just about anywhere.
That flexibility is reflected in the
wide range of settings involved in
the SBIRT Initiative. Because each
grantee has multiple projects, more
than 125 sites are now participating
nationwide.
In California, for instance, the state’s
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs
is offering SBIRT in primary care clinics,
federally qualified health centers,
and emergency rooms and trauma centers.
In Florida, the Department of Children
and Families is focusing on older adults,
which means bringing the SBIRT approach
to such settings as senior nutrition
programs, public health settings, primary
care offices, and similar venues.
The New Mexico Department of Health
uses telehealth technology to conduct
clinical interviews and provide counseling
to patients across the large, rural
state.
The Initiative’s campus-based
grantees are using the model at a wide
range of schools. At Bristol Community
College in Fall River, MA, for example,
the SBIRT model features bilingual
clinicians who understand the community’s
Portuguese culture and work to eliminate
its high rate of heroin use.
At the University of Hartford, Connecticut,
the SBIRT program focuses primarily
on students referred from the university’s
judicial office for violations of its
alcohol and substance abuse policy.
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville
offers students the opportunity to
participate in its SBIRT program when
they open
their university email accounts.
