Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), is a skills and evidence-based education program to help you quickly and confidently assess and respond to alcohol and other drug use among new or existing patients in your practice.

Brisbane South PHN invites General Practitioners (GPs) to join a skills and evidence-based education program to acquire new knowledge and confidence in asking about and assessing substance use in patients. This includes tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs. It also includes vaping!

The program is designed to enable GPs to confidently:

• quantify the level of risk associated with their patients’ use
• talk with patients honestly and openly
• provide advice on practical ways patients can manage their use. 

Alcohol and other drug use is common. It’s a leading cause of preventable burden of disease in Australia. Screening and brief intervention are some of the most time and cost-effective, evidence-based approaches to helping medium risk patients cut-down or stop on their own.  

Primary healthcare has a unique role in reducing the harms associated with substance use. 

But there are some common misconceptions about alcohol and other drug use:

“People who use drugs are probably addicted and need a specialist service.”  
– Not true. Most people who use drugs are not addicted.

“I can’t treat them with the resources I have available.”  
– You can. For the majority, responding is easy and time efficient.

“We don’t see those kinds of patients in our practice anyway.”  
– A significant proportion of people seeing GPs either smoke, drink, or use illicit substances at least sometimes.

Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) – Education program overview

The program comprises 3 different activities. The content is designed to build on each activity to form the education program. However, each component is a standalone activity. The program is accredited for CPD through RACGP.

Sessions will be delivered by clinicians from the University of Adelaide as part of a Queensland PHN Statewide project.

Session details:

• Session 1: Responding to alcohol and other drug use in patients: Introductory webinar (foundational information)
  
  Time: Thursday 5 October 2023, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
  
  Register for session 1 here.

• Session 2: Responding to alcohol and other drug use in patients: In-person workshop (experiential)
  
  This is a combined event with the option to attend the Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) for mental healthcare workshop from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. GPs will receive a $300 (gst excl.) remuneration payment for training completion.
  
  Location: Eight Mile Plains
  Time: Saturday 4 November, 9am to 12 midday
  
  Register for session 2 here.

• Session 3: Responding to alcohol and other drug use in patients: Follow-up webinar
  
  Time:
  Tuesday 5 December 2023 (time TBC)
  Thursday 7 December 2023 (time TBC)