Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for Drug Use in Health Care Settings: A Dialogue on the Evidence and Opportunity for Prevention

The field of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to address substance use in health care settings is at an important crossroads.  This roundtable will provide a forum to discuss the state of the evidence for SBIRT implemented in health care settings to address drug use and dialogue about how more recent findings might inform models for screening and brief intervention for prevention and future research in this area.  SBIRT models for substance use have been tested in multiple health care settings and with diverse populations, using a variety of delivery models and formats. The evidence that SBIRT implemented in health care settings is efficacious for reducing risky alcohol and tobacco use has resulted in the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation for screening and brief (SBI) for alcohol and tobacco use.  However, the evidence for SBIRT reducing unhealthy drug use has been sparse and mixed, which has resulted in the USPSTF rating of “I” (insufficient evidence) for recommendation of SBI for illicit drug use.  More recent published findings of SBIRT for drug use are negative showing no efficacy for SBIRT delivered in health care settings, particularly for more severe levels of drug use.  The panel for this roundtable will include researchers implementing and conducting SBIRT research in health care settings and representatives from the National Institutes of Health.  The presenters will present and discuss their own recent research findings on SBIRT to address less severe levels of drug use and also discuss with the audience what the evidence to date means for the future of SBIRT for drug use, how the findings might inform for whom SBIRT models are most effective, and also inform models for screening and brief intervention for prevention of less severe levels of drug use.  The discussant will facilitate a dialogue with the panelists and audience about next steps for SBIRT research for drug use.  Attendees are invited to come and share their own research, perspectives, and participate in an interactive dialogue.