Date of Completion

8-21-2015

Embargo Period

8-21-2015

Keywords

Black community, SBIRT, cultural relevancy

Major Advisor

Sandra Rigazio-DiGilio, Ph.D.

Associate Advisor

Edna Brown, Ph.D

Associate Advisor

Idethia S. Harvey, MPH, DrPH.

Associate Advisor

Thomas Babor, Ph.D., MPH

Field of Study

Human Development and Family Studies

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

This study compares and integrates voices from representative members of three Hartford area stakeholder groups to improve the cultural relevancy of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) protocol for the Black community living in the Hartford area, and determines its applicability for other communities in Connecticut with large representations of minority populations. SBIRT is a national demonstration program attempting to provide early identification and intervention for people with substance use disorders. Although SBIRT is currently utilized in community health centers across the state of Connecticut, it is unknown whether the structure and format are supportive of the local implementation environment and of the people who reside there. The current study enlisted representative individuals associated with the Black American community in Hartford, Conn., as participants in three stakeholder groups (community members, community leaders, and service providers) in order to solicit community-based input and feedback regarding the SBIRT protocol. The findings provides further support to the rationale that effective outreach and engagement could be more instrumental to improving treatment outcomes than the actual treatment itself, particularly among communities that are under-resourced. This study also outlines an agenda for incorporating information of this nature into future studies designed to implement and test the use of a culturally adapted version of SBIRT.

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