Know what SBIRT is? Eventually, it might be part of your dental or physical checkup.
SBIRT is Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment for alcohol and drug use. The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies won an $859,979 federal grant to incorporate SBIRT training into its curriculum for health professional students at the School of Dentistry and School of Medicine and its internal medicine and emergency medicine residency programs.
The project will result in a better-trained workforce that is prepared to respond to substance use as a health issue and implement SBIRT, increasing access to appropriate care for underserved patients and decreasing the prevalence of substance use disorders.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, funder of the grant, wants to increase SBIRT throughout the healthcare system. SBIRT is a brief standardized screening for alcohol and drug use, and a 5- to 15-minute discussion to help patients who use substances at risky levels to reduce their use, or referral to treatment for patients who may have a substance use disorder.
Reviewed 2016-05-10