Below are brief summaries of Grant Results Reports available on past grantmaking in this field of interest. In some cases, the grants were made before the team decided on its current strategic objective. Findings and lessons from the grants described have nonetheless informed RWJF’s grantmaking. Visit the Foundation’s Web site www.rwjf.org for more Grant Results Reports.

Risky Business: When People Drink Too Much, Some of the Time
While studies have found that brief interventions such as counseling are helpful in curbing the alcohol consumption of people who drink too much but are not alcoholics, they have never been adequately tested. In 1994, RWJF launched a national initiative called Cutting Back®: Managed Care Screening and Brief Intervention for Risky Drinking to determine the effectiveness of interventions in clinical settings. Researchers at the Alcohol Research Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, conducted a seven-year study of low-cost screening and intervention to address risky drinking by patients at five managed care clinics. The research team reported that the interventions produced a modest but statistically significant reduction in at-risk drinking, and that interventions by non-physician specialists proved as effective as those provided by physicians in the course of a routine medical visit, at 40 percent lower cost. See the National Program Report at www.rwjf.org/reports/npreports/ cuttingback.htm.

Help for Teen Drug Abusers—and Their Parents
Out of the 1 million youngsters ages 12 to 17 who were drug dependent in 1998, only 175,000 received treatment. One problem is that very little information has been available on adolescent treatment choices. From 2001 to 2003, Drug Strategies, a Washington-based nonprofit research institute, developed and published Treating Teens: A Guide to Adolescent Drug Programs, a 60-page guide designed to help parents and caregivers assess treatment programs. It contains summary profiles of 144 adolescent treatment programs that feature elements of effective treatment. It also lists hotline numbers and Web site addresses for teen treatment centers in each state. Drug Strategies also created a Web site www.drugstrategies.org/teens. See the Grant Results Report at www.rwjf.org/portfolios/resources/grantsreport.jsp?filename=039051.htm.

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