$13 Million Grant to Help with Early Intervention for People with Risky Substance Abuse Behavior
Change comes hard as the saying goes; however, changing a behavior before it is out of control is easier. The Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH) in St. Louis, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Mental Health, has been awarded a more than $13 million grant to create an early intervention program in medical settings for people with risky behaviors. These behaviors include excessive use of alcohol or tobacco, use of illegal drugs, or abuse of prescription medication. MIMH is part of the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.
“It is easier for people to change if you help them before they develop major problems,” said Matthew Hile, PhD, program coordinator and research associate professor of psychiatry. “We’ve been waiting for people to develop horrendous difficulties when we could deliver a much better outcome by catching risky behaviors early on.”
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will award $66 million over the next five years for 15 cooperative agreements in communities that implement Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment Projects. Health care providers will learn to recognize patients at risk for substance abuse and how to help them.
“The person who goes out and drinks a six-pack every Friday night thinks their behavior is fine, but that is binge drinking,” said Hile, who also is director of the MIMH Behavioral Health Division and Behavioral Informatics. “With early intervention, we can teach people about the risks associated with what they are doing while it is still easy for them to change.”
The program will be implemented in March at Springfield’s Cox Health Urgent Care Centers, a Springfield medical clinic, and Heartland Health Care’s Emergency Department in St. Joseph. A computer program will be created during this process so the prevention program can be implemented easily at any site in the future.
During the next five years, the program is expected to screen more than 80,000 patients in Missouri.
