Integrating adolescent substance abuse screening, brief intervention and treatment in health professions education

Technology-Based Interventions and Trainings to Reduce the Escalation and Impact of Alcohol Problems

“…The independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, partnered with the Council on Social Work Education, Center for Clinical Social Work, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and New York-based technology company Kognito to develop a curriculum and training materials for integrating adolescent SBIRT education into undergraduate and graduate courses in social work and nursing (McPherson, Goplerud, Adam, 2015). As part of these efforts, they developed an online simulation that enables learners to practice conducting brief interventions for alcohol misuse with virtual adolescent patients.…”

“…The web-based training program includes information about SBIRT and three interactive role playing situations that feature emotionally responsive virtual patients with problems at different levels of severity (e.g., weekly alcohol use/high risk use, monthly alcohol use/moderate risk use) and contexts (e.g., primary care, ED, school social worker/nurse office setting). These simulated role-play conversations can be delivered on computers, tablets and mobile devices and use gaming technology to prepare social workers and other professionals to effectively lead real-life conversations related to substance misuse (McPherson, Goplerud, Adam, 2015). Initial feedback from social work students has shown that the use of virtual clients can help students feel less self-conscious when learning new practice skills (Walters et al, 2016).…”

Using Virtual Patient Simulations to Prepare Primary Health Care Professionals to Conduct Substance Use and Mental Health Screening and Brief Intervention

“…However, education on substance use and mental health for PHPs remains scarce: It is often taught as an optional or specialized area, and it competes for time and resources with other subjects taught. Clinical barriers for screening and brief intervention include a lack of awareness, skills, and knowledge of screening tools; discomfort initiating conversations about behavioral health; time concerns; and a lack of treatment resources and simple guidelines for conducting brief interventions (McPherson, Goplerud, & Adam, 2015; Van Hook et al, 2007). PHPs are sometimes provided the opportunity to develop their skills in these areas by role-playing with standardized patients, who are actors hired and trained to behave as real patients.…”