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Screening, Intervention, and Referral

Manuals From the Illinois SBIRT Initiative

Begun in 2003, the National SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment) Program is a ground-breaking approach toward intervening earlier in the lives of people who have, or risk developing, substance use disorders (SUD) like substance dependence and substance abuse.  Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA. CSAT), SBIRT has helped thousands of people:
  • Learn about substance use disorders and their risk factors
  • Take steps to reduce their risk
  • Get help (treatment or motivational-enhancement services) if they need it
This program works through screening, brief intervention, and referral services introduced into settings where people naturally seek medical help, including hospitals, trauma centers, emergency departments, community clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and school clinics.  It takes a non-stigmatizing, medical approach toward understanding substance use issues and their risks and consequences.

The Illinois SBIRT Initiative (ISI) received one of the first eight grants awarded under this program.  With sponsorship by the Office of the Governor, State of Illinois, and leadership and administrative oversight from the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (DHS, DASA), the Initiative also included a number of other dynamic and highly committed partners:
  • The Cook County Bureau of Health Services, in charge of implementing the program in hospitals and community-based clinics
  • Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, providing referral and case management
  • The Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center, providing training and systems-change assistance
  • Chestnut Health Systems, Illinois Health Survey Lab, providing follow-up and evaluation services
  • Eleven publicly funded SUD treatment providers, who provided a new Brief Treatment Model developed by DHS, DASA
  • The ISI Policy Steering Committee, a multidisciplinary body that provided leadership and assistance in the project's ongoing development



The Illinois project worked by training and deploying SBIRT Health Counselors, some of whom had SUD clinical experience and some of whom had experience in their own recovery from these disorders, to provide screening and brief intervention, and to connect patients with referral coordinators and case managers.  In later phases of the program, the screening and brief intervention functions were transferred to permanent hospital and clinic staff.

In her role with the Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Pam had the privilege of coordinating the initial training program for the Illinois SBIRT Initiative, finding and working with experts/trainers in the many areas covered under a five-day intensive training for all new SBIRT Health Counselors, case managers, and referral coordinators.  After the two waves of initial training were complete, she developed the Illinois SBIRT Staff Manual for new staff who would not have the luxury of a two-week training, capturing the ideas and techniques of those experts/trainers in a concise narrative manual.  Because an important part of these Health Counselors' training was to "shadow" existing Health Counselors in their work, Pam also developed the SBIRT Shadow Journal, to help the new counselors reflect and learn from these experiences.

This section provides both documents:
  • Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment:  The Illinois SBIRT Staff Manual (a narrative manual on SBIRT concepts and practices)
  • The Illinois SBIRT Initiative Shadow Journal (a journal for Health Counselors to keep during the job-shadowing phase of their orientation)

To download these documents at no cost, click on the links below.

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v.1
IllinoisSBIRTStaffManual.pdf
(1083k)
Pam Woll,
Dec 14, 2009 9:47 AM
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v.1
SBIRTShadowJournal.pdf
(398k)
Pam Woll,
Dec 14, 2009 9:48 AM