Alcohol Screening, Intervention & Referral For Health Professionals
Health professionals play an important role in alcohol screening to help assess the level of at-risk drinking among their clients and provide further supports and referrals as needed.
A healthcare provider can identify patients who drink alcohol beyond low-risk consumption levels and further assess their at-risk status based on reported alcohol use and other relevant clinical information.
Interventions should be selected based on this assessment.
A primary care brief intervention is composed of one or more short visits with a patient.
The central focus of these visits is to motivate and support the patient’s efforts to change drinking-related behaviour and reduce alcohol-related harms.
It is important to continue to follow up with patients and review goals and progress at each visit.
If the patient is receiving medication for alcohol dependence, medication management support should also be provided.
