Brief Interventions for Alcohol Problems: Factors That Facilitate Implementation

Brief interventions are gaining favor as a means of addressing the problems associated with hazardous and harmful drinking. Brief interventions commonly target people whose levels or patterns of use are not diagnosable as alcohol abuse or dependence. These interventions usually are delivered by professionals who do not specialize in alcoholism treatment, and they include treatment elements designed to encourage people to alter their alcohol use without creating resistance. As evidence mounts regarding the efficacy of these interventions, attention has turned to implementing them successfully. New modes of delivery, such as via computers, the Internet, and interactive multimedia presentations, may help to surmount some of the challenges of wide dissemination, such as strains on expertise, time, and resources. KEY WORDS: harmful drinking; hazardous drinking; risk assessment; intervention (persuasion to treatment); prevention; intervention process and procedures; brief intervention; motivational interviewing; counseling; peer counseling; normative education; computer-assisted instruction; primary care facility; emergency room; trauma center As those in the alcohol field to nonhazardous levels and eliminating 1 For the purposes of this article, “risky or hazardous recognize that the problems binge drinking rather than insisting drinking ” is defined as “more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3 drinks per occasion for women, and moreassociated with drinking begin that the person abstain from drinking, than 14 drinks per week or more than 4 drinks per occ