AlcoholScreening.org is a free service of Join Together, a project of the Boston University School of Public Health. AlcoholScreening.org helps individuals assess their own alcohol consumption patterns to determine if their drinking is likely to be harming their health or increasing their risk for future harm. Through education and referral, the site urges those whose drinking is harmful or hazardous to take positive action, and informs all adults who consume alcohol about guidelines and caveats for lower-risk drinking.
Since the launch of AlcoholScreening.org in April 2001, over one million people have completed the screening questionnaire and received scientifically-based feedback on their drinking patterns.
Rationale
Alcohol abuse and dependence are major public health problems, resulting in 100,000 deaths per year in the United States and costing the healthcare system billions of dollars annually. Excessive alcohol use is a major cause of injuries, violent crime, lost productivity at work and school, family and social problems, and disease.
Although moderate alcohol consumption is safe for most people and may even have health benefits for certain individuals, many people do not know what low-risk drinking is, nor do they know the circumstances in which drinking no alcohol is the safest choice. In addition, many people don't realize they have an alcohol problem, or are at risk for one, because no one asks them about their drinking patterns. Scientific research has shown that screening and brief intervention (SBI) can be very effective in prompting people whose alcohol consumption is risky or harmful to cut back on their drinking or seek treatment.
Research to date on Internet-based SBI points to significant potential to effectively reach many more individuals than can be physically screened in health-care and other offline encounters. While no online health screening and information tool can take the place of individual advice from a qualified health professional, Join Together believes that online screening will play an increasingly important role in increasing public and personal awareness about alcohol consumption and health.
About Join Together
Join Together is a program of the Boston University School of Public Health. Since 1991 it has been the nation's leading provider of information, strategic planning assistance, and leadership development for community-based efforts to advance effective alcohol and drug policy, prevention, and treatment. Join Together is funded by individual donors and foundations, with major support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
AlcoholScreening.org Sponsors
About Alkermes
Alkermes, Inc. is a sponsor of AlcoholScreening.org. Alkermes, Inc. is a fully integrated biotechnology company that uses proprietary technologies and know-how to create
innovative medicines designed to yield better therapeutic outcomes for patients with serious disease, including alcohol dependence and other CNS disorders. For more
information about Alkermes, please visit: www.alkermes.com