Treatment of At-Risk Drinkers in Primary Care

This project conducted a randomized trial in a population of at-risk drinkers to evaluate the impact of interventions consisting of physician-delivered self- help materials, written personalized feedback, and supportive telephone counseling. Drinkers’ readiness to change, their motivations across stages of changes, and self-help interventions which are hypothesized to mediate change were studied, as well as changes in the knowledge, practices and confidence of physicians regarding treating at-risk drinkers. The long term goal was to develop a protocol for identifying and treating at-risk drinkers in a primary health care system.

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