Alcohol and other substance use among Colorado youth is a public health concern.

Colorado has seen a decline in alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco/nicotine use among adolescents since 2019. However, youth in Colorado are more likely to have used substances in the last month than the average American youth. In addition, there are regional variations in Colorado. Rural and frontier regions have higher rates of alcohol use, opioid use, opioid overdose deaths, substance use, and suicide deaths compared to urban and suburban regions. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to address alcohol or other substance use in youth 11-25 years old. Screening means asking validated questions about alcohol or other substance use. A brief intervention is a short conversation to provide feedback, enhance motivation to change, and plan next steps. A referral to treatment is connecting youth with additional care when at a higher risk of developing an alcohol or other substance use disorder.

NORC conducted a landscape assessment of adolescent SBIRT in Colorado.

NORC partnered with Peer Assistance Services, Inc. (PAS), a nonprofit organization in Denver, Colorado, and the Colorado SBIRT Advisory Council to conduct a landscape assessment of adolescent SBIRT implementation in Colorado. Our assessment included health professionals in a variety of disciplines and settings, and identified opportunities to support and strengthen the workforce through SBIRT training and technical assistance.

NORC and PAS finalized and disseminated a survey to health professionals and designed and conducted key informant interviews with identified stakeholders to assess the landscape of adolescent SBIRT adoption and implementation in Colorado. NORC collected and analyzed data from the survey and key informant interviews, then summarized and presented the findings.