Workplace Screening and Brief Intervention
Screening and brief intervention (SBI) is a technique combining the use of validated screening instruments and short-term intervention to reduce or eliminate harmful alcohol use.
When detected early, alcohol problems can be effectively treated in ways that are less costly and that prevent more serious illness from developing. Confidential screening for alcohol problems, which can be conducted in healthcare settings or in the workplace as part of employee assistance programs, company health fairs, or new staff orientations, is critical to early detection.
Brief intervention--a series of short counseling sessions that can be conducted by qualified professionals in the workplace, physicians' offices, or hospitals--has proven to be an effective technique for treating alcohol problems and reducing alcohol-related health costs. In fact, one study found that heavy drinkers who received brief intervention over a two-month period had significantly fewer accidents, hospital visits, and other events related to problem drinking during the following year. Savings for each brief intervention exceeded treatment costs by 3 to 1.
Report: Workplace Screening and Brief Intervention
A new analysis of government data finds that 15 percent of employees in the hospitality industry suffer from serious alcohol-related problems. Excessive alcohol use costs U.S. employers billions in lost productivity and additional health care costs every year. According Workplace Screening & Brief Intervention:What Employers Can and Should Do About Hazardous Alcohol Use, alcohol-related problems are disproportionately represented in American business, with employees in the hospitality, construction and wholesale industries significantly more likely to be dependent on or abuse alcohol.
Alcohol Screening: A Quick First Step to Reduce Problem Drinking
With a modest investment, businesses, unions, schools and health care practitioners can implement a crucial first step to reduce problem drinking.
Brief Intervention: Cost-Effective Help For Problem Drinkers
Alcohol problems hurt American families and cost American businesses billions each year in lost productivity and added health care costs. Yet millions of people do not get the help they need. Early treatment can make a difference.