Skip to main content
  • Meeting abstract
  • Open access
  • Published:

Developing a method of implementation of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment in primary health care settings of Brazil and Latin America

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) appears to be an important tool in Brazil and Latin America to address the use/abuse of alcohol and other drugs and to help implement and organize preventive activities, particularly in the services of primary health care (PHC). Nevertheless, there are few studies evaluating the implementation of SBIRT in PHC of Latin American countries, identifying elements that promote positive results in the prevention and/or reduction of consumption according to each situation. Therefore, this study presents a method for implementing SBIRT developed in the PHC of a small/medium Brazilian city, highlighting challenges and possibilities for its dissemination in other cities and countries in Latin America. This is a research intervention, with data collection and evaluation through participant observation. The entire process was evaluated to the suitability to local needs, determining factors that could facilitate or impede its implementation. The method developed consisted of six stages: initial contact and planning, diagnosis and mapping, raising awareness, training and monitoring. In the process of implementation the hindering points detected were: insufficient resources (human, financial, infrastructure), shortage of integration and intersectional health care settings, lack of participation by physicians, focus in dependence, scarcity of participation of civil society and absence of spaces where this population could participate. However, the participation of community health workers and nurses in the implementation and organization of SBIRT, the actions implemented by health teams, such as educational and preventive practices in schools and discussion groups with communities, are positive prospects for the implementation of SBIRT in the Latin American PHC context. Finally, the method presented is considered a useful model to other Latin American cities and countries, with necessary adaptations. Despite the advances, progress is needed in preventing alcohol and other drug abuse in Latin America, with long-term measures.

Acknowledgements

FAPEMIG and CAPES.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Telmo Mota Ronzani.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Antunes da Costa, P.H., Belchior Mota, D.C., Cruvinel, E. et al. Developing a method of implementation of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment in primary health care settings of Brazil and Latin America. Addict Sci Clin Pract 8 (Suppl 1), A6 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1940-0640-8-S1-A6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1940-0640-8-S1-A6

Keywords