Employer Information: Alcohol Screening and Brief Interventions in the Workplace

The following questions ask about Screening and Brief Intervention for alcohol misuse. We have provided a definition of Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention to help you answer these questions.

Alcohol Screening: the use of a valid brief questionnaire about the context, frequency and amount of alcohol used by an individual. Alcohol screening provides a quick way to identify individuals whose drinking patterns indicate that they have an alcohol problem or are at risk for developing one. Examples of valid questionnaires are: AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test), MAST (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test), and CAGE (4 question screener).

Brief Intervention: the healthcare provider/EAP, using the results of a screening questionnaire that indicates an alcohol problem, expresses concerns about the individual’s drinking and advises the individual to cut down on his/her drinking. The healthcare provider/EAP helps the individual to develop an action plan to achieve this goal. Brief interventions are not designed to treat alcoholism, which requires greater expertise and more extensive care management.