Training staff to deliver alcohol screening and brief interventions: evaluation of accident and emergency staff attitudes

The SIPS study is a major UK evaluation of screening and brief intervention (SBI) strategies

for alcohol users in primary care, emergency departments and criminal justice settings. This

poster presents some preliminary data on the evaluation of training staff to screen patients for

alcohol use disorders and deliver brief interventions in accident & emergency care. Training

materials were developed and subject to revision by expert members of the SIPS teams and

were piloted before use. Training was delivered in small groups or individually, and consisted

of a 45 interactive presentation on screening for alcohol use disorders in accordance with the

study protocol. The brief advice intervention training involved a 1 hour interactive presentation

with skills practice role plays. The training package including a manual of the training with

detailed procedures on delivering screening and brief intervention, flow chart of the screening

and intervention process, copies of the presentations and intervention cheat sheets was given

to each trainee. The training was evaluated in pre and post questionnaires measuring attitude

and barriers to implementation. Overall, positive feedback on training was received and most

welcomed receiving training. Research elements and Units were often reported as the most

challenging parts of the training. Staff’s attitude and motivation were measured by the

SAAPPQ which assesses differences in 5 areas: Role adequacy, Role legitimacy, Motivation,

Task-specific self-esteem, Work satisfaction. Analysis of pre and post SAAPPQ scores has

shown a significantly higher positive attitude and motivation (p < .001) of the 250 A&E staff

involved in the trial (SAAPPQ) compared with staff from primary care and probation settings.

This positive attitude also improved after training (p < .001). Despite willingness to be trained

and positive attitudes towards SBI, implementation was difficult in the accident and

emergency departments, and some settings needed external support to meet recruitment

targets. Limited time, workload, lack of privacy and turnover were factors that implementation.