University of Arizona

Program Description

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is funding the University of Arizona (UA) $493,224 per year for 3 years to implement Project College Health Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (CHAT), a program to initiate and expand screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment to all university students. Special emphasis will be placed on outreach to higher-risk groups (fraternities and sororities, athletes, and first-year students) and students referred from the University Medical Center Emergency Room, faculty, parents, Residence Life, Greek Life, cultural centers, and other student organizations.

Campus Description

UA is a public institution with an enrollment of approximately 37,000 students, including 5,800 freshmen. Approximately 37 percent of students reported participating in heavy episodic drinking in 2006 and 41 percent of freshmen, 48 percent of athletes, and 65 percent of students with fraternity or sorority affiliations had 5 or more drinks per sitting in the 2 weeks prior to the survey.

Program Model

Screening

Campus Health Services (CHS) providers use motivational interviewing to screen high-risk students during their initial visit to the CHS.

Questions, consisting of three about alcohol use recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and one about illegal drug use, are incorporated into the standard CHS medical history form.

Brief Intervention

CHS mental health clinicians conduct brief interventions using Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students (BASICS).

The initial session includes an assessment using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

Responses to the AUDIT are used to determine if the student is appropriate for BASICS or should be referred to more intensive treatment.

Referral

Students needing more intensive treatment are referred to services on-campus or in the community. The triage specialist provides students with information about treatment options and makes the appropriate referral (including setting up the first appointment, if possible).

Service Features

CHS employs bilingual and bicultural providers and offers medical forms in English and Spanish.

Outreach is conducted through classified ads in the student newspaper; articles in the student health and wellness newsletter; recruitment posters distributed in residence halls, fraternity and sorority houses, student cultural centers, the recreation center, and athletic center; information tables at campus events; newsletters to parents; and presentations to groups across campus.

Collaborators

• UA Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW)
• UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
• UA Dean of Students Office
• UA Disability Resource Center
• Greek Life organizations
• Residence Life
• Athletics Department
• Commuter Student Affairs

Contact Information

Peggy Glider, Project Director
University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210095
Tucson, AZ 85721-0095
(520) 621-5973
glider@health.arizona.edu