# Bringing Alcohol and Other Drug Research to Primary Care

> **NIH NIH R25** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $652,474

## Abstract

Alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUD) such as opioid use disorder (OUD) are serious problems
affecting all segments of the US population. The impact of these conditions can be severe, including declines
in health and quality of life, disability, and death. Evidence-based tools available to healthcare professionals
for addressing these conditions in primary care, including screening and brief interventions (SBI), preventive
counseling, and medication-assisted treatments, are underutilized, even as the burden of SUD continues to
worsen. Primary care is an essential point of contact for addressing SUD, but significant gaps persist in
training programs, implementation and resources. Despite over a decade of nationally funded implementation
initiatives, the alcohol SBI/Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (aSBI/SBIRT) model has
uneven uptake across primary care practices. The aSBI model, for example, has earned a Grade B
recommendation by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Yet, while the SBI components of
SBIRT have shown efficacy for addressing risky alcohol use in primary care, the RT (referral and treatment)
components have not, nor has SBI made a clear impact on other substances beyond alcohol. With a cadre of
medications for treating AUD and OUD available for prescription by primary care clinicians, and more recent
literature supporting the efficacy of medication therapy (MAT) for OUD uncoupled from counseling therapies, it
is time to move past treatment referral in primary care to directly providing MAT for AUD and OUD.
This program will use evidence based outreach and educational methods including short courses,
asynchronous, computerized, interactive modules, and in-person professional academic detailing to deliver up
to date knowledge and skills training to large and diverse groups of primary care professionals in the Greater
Houston Metropolitan Area (GHMA) and the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), Texas. It will be the first work of its
kind to evaluate the efficacy of academic detailing with specific regard to SUD treatment training and practice
uptake, measuring changes in awareness, knowledge, understanding, clinician confidence, and intent to adopt
and implement substance use screening and interventions, such as MAT for SUD, into daily practice. Process
evaluation of engagement and outreach strategies will guide program modification and expansion. The
program will 1. Develop and implement engaging AUD and OUD educational outreach strategies, including
academic detailing and innovative, interactive, computer-based asynchronous tools, for 300 practicing primary
care providers in the GHMR and the RGV, Texas and 2. Evaluate the extent to which intensive academic
detailing improves the effectiveness of a comprehensive, interactive, asynchronous outreach program on
awareness, knowledge, understanding, and intent to incorporate AUD/OUD screening and treatment protocols
into practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10142319
- **Project number:** 5R25AA028203-02
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Alicia Ann Kowalchuk
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $652,474
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10142319

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10142319, Bringing Alcohol and Other Drug Research to Primary Care (5R25AA028203-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10142319. Licensed CC0.

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