TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing alcohol and opioid use among youth in rural counties
T2 - An innovative training protocol for primary health care providers and school personnel
AU - Francis, Erica
AU - Bowers, Kara Shifler
AU - Buchberger, Glenn
AU - Ryan, Sheryl
AU - Milchak, William
AU - Kraschnewski, Jennifer
N1 - Funding Information:
This project is supported by the Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), through grant 1H79SP081725-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of SAMHSA. This project is also partially supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1 TR002014. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 JMIR Publications. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Background: Given that youth alcohol use is more common in rural communities, such communities can play a key role in preventing alcohol use among adolescents. Guidelines recommend primary care providers incorporate screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) into routine care. Objective: The aim is to train primary care providers and school nurses within a rural 10-county catchment area in Pennsylvania to use SBIRT and facilitate collaboration with community organizations to better coordinate substance use prevention efforts. Methods: To build capacity to address underage drinking and opioid use among youth aged 9-20 years, this project uses telehealth, specifically Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), to train primary care providers and school nurses to address substance use with SBIRT. Our project will provide 120 primary care providers and allied health professionals as well as 20 school nurses with SBIRT training. Community-based providers will participate in weekly virtual ECHO sessions with a multidisciplinary team from Penn State College of Medicine that will provide SBIRT training and facilitate case discussions among participants. Results: To date, we have launched one SBIRT ECHO project with school personnel, enrolling 34 participants. ECHO participants are from both rural (n=17) and urban (n=17) counties and include school nurses (n=15), school counselors (n=8), teachers (n=5), administrators (n=3), and social workers (n=3). Before the study began, only 2/13 (15.5%) of schools were screening for alcohol use. Conclusions: This project teaches primary care clinics and schools to use SBIRT to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance use disorders, reduce problems associated with substance use disorders, and strengthen communities' prevention capacity. Ours is an innovative model to improve rural adolescent health by reducing alcohol and opioid use.
AB - Background: Given that youth alcohol use is more common in rural communities, such communities can play a key role in preventing alcohol use among adolescents. Guidelines recommend primary care providers incorporate screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) into routine care. Objective: The aim is to train primary care providers and school nurses within a rural 10-county catchment area in Pennsylvania to use SBIRT and facilitate collaboration with community organizations to better coordinate substance use prevention efforts. Methods: To build capacity to address underage drinking and opioid use among youth aged 9-20 years, this project uses telehealth, specifically Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), to train primary care providers and school nurses to address substance use with SBIRT. Our project will provide 120 primary care providers and allied health professionals as well as 20 school nurses with SBIRT training. Community-based providers will participate in weekly virtual ECHO sessions with a multidisciplinary team from Penn State College of Medicine that will provide SBIRT training and facilitate case discussions among participants. Results: To date, we have launched one SBIRT ECHO project with school personnel, enrolling 34 participants. ECHO participants are from both rural (n=17) and urban (n=17) counties and include school nurses (n=15), school counselors (n=8), teachers (n=5), administrators (n=3), and social workers (n=3). Before the study began, only 2/13 (15.5%) of schools were screening for alcohol use. Conclusions: This project teaches primary care clinics and schools to use SBIRT to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance use disorders, reduce problems associated with substance use disorders, and strengthen communities' prevention capacity. Ours is an innovative model to improve rural adolescent health by reducing alcohol and opioid use.
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U2 - 10.2196/21015
DO - 10.2196/21015
M3 - Article
C2 - 33155572
AN - SCOPUS:85096763337
SN - 1929-0748
VL - 9
JO - JMIR Research Protocols
JF - JMIR Research Protocols
IS - 11
M1 - 21015
ER -