Sydney North Health Network (SNHN) has created the Alcohol Brief intervention Initiative to gather ideas from GPs on effectively educating and supporting patients to reduce their alcohol intake. Systematic review of clinical preventative health strategies in the USA ranks screening and brief intervention for problem drinking to be equivalent on health impact and cost effectiveness as colorectal cancer screening, and higher than that for cervical cancer and breast cancer screening.
There are many barriers to offering screening and brief intervention in general practice including competing health priorities and time constraints, degree of confidence and knowledge in providing information and counselling, sensitivity about discussing drugs and alcohol, and lack of support for more complex issues. The health benefits of overcoming these barriers are enormous.
This Initiative will commence in February 2020 and GPs will be remunerated $600 for 4 months of participation. Deidentified ideas, resources, and information on barriers and solutions generated by GPs will be collated and distributed within the group, and to following participants to accelerate learnings. Knowledge gained through this initiative will inform future work on reducing alcohol harms in our region.
If you are interested in participating, please complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) form and return to Pat Simmonds at Sydney North Health Network. Pat can be contacted via the details below.
Email: psimmonds@snhn.org.au
Phone: (02) 9432 8256