Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) invites general practitioners to register for this practical, skills-based program. Primary healthcare has a unique role in reducing the harms associated with substance use.
Participants will gain the knowledge, confidence, and skills to ask about and assess substance use (yes all of them!….tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and other drugs, including vaping!). Gaining that confidence and knowledge will help you quantify the level of harm associated with your patients’ use, talk with them about it, and provide advice on practical ways they can manage it.
Alcohol and other drug use is common. It’s a leading cause of preventable burden of disease in Australia. Screening, and brief intervention, is one of the most time and cost-effective, evidence-based approaches to helping your medium risk patients cut-down or stop on their own.
For higher risk patients with more complex needs, the program outlines referral pathways for specialist care. Bringing it out into the open is a first step towards the patient getting help.
Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) - Education program
“People who use drugs are probably addicted and need a specialist service” – Not true. Most people who use drugs are not addicted.
“I can’t treat them with the resources I have available” – You can. For the majority, responding is easy and time-efficient.
“We don’t see those kinds of patients in our practice anyway” – A significant proportion of people attending GPs either smoke, drink, or use illicit substances at least sometimes.
This program comprises of three activities, but each component is a standalone activity accredited for CPD through RACGP. The sessions are outlined below.