Implementing brief alcohol intervention in primary and occupational health care. Reflections on two Finnish projects.

Abstract

The article describes the implementing of brief alcohol interventions in primary and occupational health care in Finland by studying the two most recent nationwide projects. These projects build on earlier national and international research results and practical knowledge and are tailored according to the Finnish political and medical culture. We report how actively the municipalities joined with the nationwide implementation project in primary health care and the quality of the primary and occupational health care projects based on recently published quality instructions. Our conclusion is that these two projects have shown that practitioners in health care centres can be activated and thereby also make a widespread implementation of brief alcohol intervention possible. The attitudes to brief alcohol intervention, especially among health care leaders have changed for the positive, and education and training are now actively asked for as well by primary as occupational health centres. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).