Screening and Brief Intervention for Latino and non-Latino White Drug Users

San Diego State University, San Diego CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application has the major goal of evaluating the effectiveness of illegal drug intervention program on Latino population in an emergency room setting. It would include 500 Latinos and 500 non-Latinos. The application proposes to check for illegal drug use when patients enter an emergency room, make referrals, and then follow up on referrals. This project is significant because use of this type of screening with this population is potentially very valuable. This project is innovative because some Latinos are not well-connected to the health care system and this intervention would be done in a non-threatening environment. The investigators are well-qualified and have done projects of this scope before. The major strengths of this project are that the project is innovative and potentially valuable. There are some concerns about the feasibility of the study, but these are mitigated by the experience of the team. There were also some concerns about the methods, specifically, how the data from the focus group would be analyzed. Overall, the reviewers felt the application had merit and significance.