What is it?
Identifying and addressing a problem early can help young people avoid difficulties with drugs later on. Schools can assist students by watching for signs of problems and, where needed, support them in examining their situation and deciding if and what they would like to change. Schools can also provide support by linking students and their families to helpful resources in the school and community.
The aim of brief intervention and referral in a school setting is to identify and address factors that are negatively impacting a student’s health and performance. Delivering brief intervention and referral does not require formal credentials or detailed knowledge of drugs and drug use.
Brief intervention refers to one or more short encounters in which a student receives some form of counsel in regard to concerns about their performance or behaviour. It offers a way for school professionals to help young people explore their use of alcohol and other drugs and, where needed, make positive changes.
One widely-valued style for brief intervention is motivational interviewing, a client-centred method of inspiring students to make healthy choices by exploring and resolving any ambivalence they may have about making positive changes. It is based on respecting and facilitating the student’s capacity to identify and grasp issues, consider, decide on and actively pursue solutions. Tools such as a screening questionnaire may be helpful in guiding the discussions.
Referral helps students access other resources within or beyond the school setting. This may include self-help resources or programs offered through the school including co-curricular activities as well as professional community-based programs.
Level of research support: Evidence of effectiveness
Why do it?
Studies suggest that school-based brief interventions have the potential to be cost efficient and effective in reducing harm associated with substance use (Drug Policy Expert Committee, 2000).
Effective intervention requires a whole-school culture that promotes resilience complemented by a range of support services. Implementation of brief intervention strategies will be easier if the objectives are seen as compatible with the core business of schools and achievable within the resources of the staff responsible for implementation (Deed, 2006). Attention to outcomes such as fewer disciplinary referrals and more effective classroom management will help achieve staff support (McLaughlin et al., 1993).
Who is it for?
Who can facilitate it?
How can we implement it?
Even though brief intervention is possible and desirable in school settings, the issue of capacity must be addressed. Implementing brief intervention strategies requires proactive planning and capacity building rather than the reactive crisis management approach to drugs common in some schools (MacDonald & Green, 2001).
The most successful programs have these features in common:
Brief intervention and referral, however, can be administered in a wide range of ways in a school context. Obviously, school counselling staff can employ brief intervention techniques to inspire students to consider changes and pursue new options. But teachers, with minimal training can quite successfully employ more informal strategies for brief intervention. In fact, such techniques can be utilized by trained peer counsellors or even through self-help resources.
Brief interventions are typically short conversations designed to increase motivation for change or to encourage and support continued positive action. Increasing motivation involves building the individual’s sense of autonomy (“I chose to do this”), belief in personal competence (“I can do this”) and awareness of related support (“Someone I care about wants me to do this”). Ways to increase motivation include:
Introducing a tool such as screening into discussions can help deepen the connection with the young person and provide the opportunity to:
Encouraging and supporting positive action involves celebrating success and providing empathetic support and advice in meeting challenges while continuing to support autonomy and responsibility. This can involve working with the student to identify a menu of options and available resources and supports.
When the student needs greater support than can be provided in the current context, consideration of a referral should be considered. For a peer counsellor or a teacher, this might be as simple as suggesting the student talk to a school counsellor, or it might involve actually facilitating a meeting with the counsellor. For an administrator or counsellor, it might involve engaging the family or making a referral to a community-based program. Services in your community can be identified by calling the Alcohol and Drug Information Referral Service, (604) 660-938 or 1 (800) 663-1441.
Sources and related material