Liberty University HLTH 380: Analysis of the Florida BRITE Program

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Florida BRITE (Brief Intervention Treatment for Elders) program, a state-sponsored initiative designed to address substance misuse, medication adherence issues, and suicide risk among older adults in Florida. The analysis covers the program's aims, which included screening and brief interventions for substance abuse and depression, along with the development of elder-friendly protocols. The report details the program's setting and participants, highlighting the demographics and locations involved. It also examines the major health issues targeted by BRITE, including the mistreatment of prescription medications, alcohol and illicit drug use, and depression. The report summarizes the program's results, including the number of screenings conducted and the prevalence of identified issues. Finally, it assesses the contributions of the BRITE program to health promotion planning for the elderly, emphasizing its role in providing affordable and accessible services and its outreach efforts within various healthcare settings. The analysis is based on the provided article and incorporates supporting research to provide a comprehensive overview of the BRITE program's impact and significance in the field of geriatric healthcare.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Article Review
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Introduction
The Florida Brief Intervention Treatment for Elders (BRITE) program was Florida's
primary effort to develop a multisite, older people-particular substance abuse and misuse service
and screening program. It also created suicide and depression screening services. The program
was developed after the SBIRT initiative and with the support of older adults needs. Therefore,
the study aims to develop and monitor the efficiency of Florida's BRITE project, which is
determined to be state-sponsored three years pilot program of brief intervention as well as
screening for substance misuse by older people.
Setting/Participants
The BRITE program was created as well as adopted related to the recommendations by
the Treatment Improvements Protocols 26 and 34. At the time of implementation the Florida
Department of Children and Families Substances Abuse Program Office asked for the following
requirements like blood or urine test and HIV test for creating an older adult-friendly protocol.
BRITE provider agencies informed clients regarding no charges for services and acquired
consent for participation (Pope, Slovak & Giger, 2018). The counsellors utilized BRITE Health
Promotion Workbook for interviewing the clients which is published on Treatment Improvement
Protocols 26 and 34. The major participants were female, white and the individuals living alone
under 75 years of age. The majority of the participants were 61% from Broward country, 18%
from Pinellas Country, 12% from Sarasota country and 9% from Orange country.
Major Health Issue
The major health issue is the mistreatment of prescription medications, drugs and alcohol
among the older persons and suicide risk. As per the reports provided by National Survey on
Drug Use and Health 2002 and 2003, around 12.2% of the individuals of 50 years of age are high
drinkers, 1.8% use illicit drugs, and 3.2% were binge drinkers. Another health issues are over-
the-counter medication and depression. Medication misuse represents a different issue, with
older adults prone to errors in following prescription instructions (Schonfeld et al., 2010). A
social survey along with the suppliers of ageing services revealed that misuse went from 18% to
41% among the clients.

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Results
Based on the results, it has been found that between March 2004 and May 2007,
approximately 3497 older people agreed and got overall screenings through BRITE agencies.
Out of 3497 screenings, 9.7% were raised due to potential alcohol use, 26.4% for prescriptions
medication issue and 2.0% for suicide risk (Sacco, Smith, Harrington, Svoboda & Resnick,
2016). For illicit drug use, the number of referrals was considerably less that constitutes for 40
people. However, 36.8% of older person needs instructions regarding prescription medication as
they are served with appropriate treatment.
Contributions
BRITE highly contributed and served an affordable-price tactic for people at threat for
medication misuse and substance abuse. Around four BRITE programs provided outreach
energies to older people where they stayed in ageing service sites and health care. BRITE pilot
program is available in different settings such as ageing service sites, health clinics, trauma
centres and hospitals (Ghosh, Ha, Pai, Essenfeld & Park, 2016). In 2007 BRITE provided
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement federal funding codes for brief intervention and
screening (Schonfeld et al., 2010). The program reached more individuals in the initial stage of
misuse who were not treated by substance abuse services.

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References
Ghosh, S., Ha, J. H., Pai, M., Essenfeld, H., & Park, S. M. (2016). Impact of Mid-Life Symptoms
of Alcoholism on the Health and Wellbeing of Aging Parents of Adults with Disabilities.
Journal of gerontological social work, 59(1), 56-72.
Pope, N. D., Slovak, K. L., & Giger, J. T. (2018). Development of the Older Adult Prescription
Drug Assessment Questionnaire for Case Workers. Journal of Applied Gerontology,
37(7), 904-921.
Sacco, P., Smith, C. A., Harrington, D., Svoboda, D. V., & Resnick, B. (2016). Feasibility and
utility of experience sampling to assess alcohol consumption among older adults. Journal
of applied gerontology, 35(1), 106-120.
Schonfeld, L., King-Kallimanis, B. L., Duchene, D. M., Etheridge, R. L., Herrera, J. R., Barry,
K. L., & Lynn, N. (2010). Screening and brief intervention for substance misuse among
older adults: The Florida BRITE Project. American Journal of Public Health. 100 (1),
108–114.