The Authors’ Own Words:
We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
Ana Paula Leal Carneiro, PhD & Maria Lucia Oliveira Souza-Formigoni, PhD
Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 1, 2018
“Although Screening and Brief Interventions directed to substance users (SBI) have shown satisfactory results when applied by health professionals trained face-to-face, there are few data on its effectiveness when applied by professionals trained through Distance Learning (DL) courses. In this manuscript we showed that health professionals or social workers evaluated some years after having completed the Distance Learning (DL) course SUPERA had incorporated SBI in their work setting and were feeling very motivated to do it. Patients who had received SBI applied by those professionals showed a significant reduction in alcohol, tobacco and cocaine/crack related problems (reduction in WHO-ASSIST scores) three months after the intervention, indicating the effectiveness of the SBI applied. Providing an effective DL training on SBI techniques can have a significant impact on reducing substance use related problems, mainly in continental countries where the cost of massive face-to-face training is very high.”
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