What is a brief intervention for alcohol use?
A brief intervention consists of at least one 5-15 minute session of patient-centered behavior change counseling, with at least one followup, as summarized by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on behavioral counseling interventions (21). The specific content of counseling sessions reported in the literature varies, but generally brief intervention counseling sessions contain: patient-centered assessment, concerned feedback and advice, collaborative goal-setting, plus further assistance and follow-up, often by telephone. (See the sample scripts on the back of the Motivational Counseling Card.) The “5A’s” (ASSESS, ADVISE, AGREE, ASSIST, and ARRANGE) is a useful organizational construct for clinical counseling on behavioral and preventive health care issues. This is a patient-centered approach recommended by USPSTF and has already been used to train physicians and other health care staff for a variety of problems. It was first applied to smoking cessation and has been incorporated i
