MA ED SBIRT Initiative

Preparing health care providers, peer educators and social service professionals to screen patients for substance abuse and other behaviors that compromise health, motivate them to change behavior through a brief negotiated interview, and refer them to resources that will support their agenda for change

Announcing funding for a new program offering resources to improve quality of care for Emergency Department patients with high risk and dependent alcohol use and substance abuse funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substances Abuse Services.

Six Emergency Departments around the state, one from each region of Massachusetts, are receiving training in SBIRT techniques, technical assistance and salary support for peer educators. The sites selected include Children's, Haywood/Athol, Mercy, South Shore, St. Anne's, and Whidden.

Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is proven to reduce the human and economic cost of high risk/dependent drinking and drug abuse. Brief motivational interventions in the Emergency Department (ED), delivered along with regular health care, have been shown to increase abstinence and reduce substance-related health and social consequences among ED patients.

 

Emergency Departments (EDs) in Massachusetts are hard-pressed to provide timely, appropriate and comprehensive care to patients with high risk alcohol use and dependency and drug abuse. The Bureau of Substance Abuse Services has funded the Institute to provide resources to Massachusetts ED providers and patient advocates over the next three years to improve the care of  ED patients across the state. Together we will establish capacity for screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in EDs in all six Massachusetts regions, hire and train two health promotion advocates to provide SBIRT at each site, and build collaborations between local EDs and the substance abuse treatment system and other community resources. Each program will be tailored to the specific needs of the local area, and will be designed for sustainability.

For further information, please contact: bni_art@bu.edu