title: Use of brief interventions to treat individuals with drinking problems.
abstract: Further research is needed to unequivocally establish the most effective types of brief interventions and the most opportune times to use them. However, in light of what is presently known, nurses must be aware of the stages of behavioral change and intervene in the most efficacious way possible. Readiness to change can be detected by being sensitive to individuals' willingness to disclose information, attentiveness to advice and suggestions, and tendencies to ask questions and seek situation-specific information. Even when advice is apparently ignored, it is important to remember that a clinician's caring and nonjudgmental attitude may help move clients toward a more advanced stage of change and provide opportunities to intervene later on.
authors.affiliation: Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Finfgeld
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy*; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D016730:Program Development; D013997:Time Factors