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Making Effective Referrals to Alcoholics Anonymous and Other 12-step Programs

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Addressing Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Primary Care

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Abstract

This chapter will describe 12-step programs, explain what occurs at meetings, and address common mis-conceptions. Our central goal is to present practical guidelines to help primary care physicians make referrals to 12-step programs. Effective referrals include introducing patients to these programs, motivating them to attend meetings, having follow-up conversations with them about their experiences at meetings, and encouraging them to consider on-going affiliation. The guidelines presented here can help you talk with patients who are new to 12-step programs as well as patients who attended in the past but found the experience unhelpful. Since you may wonder whether 12-step programs actually work, we briefly describe the accumulating research evidence for their effectiveness. Perhaps most important, we discuss why your role as a primary care physician is so pivotal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Addictions Research and Services, Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, 02215, Boston, MA, USA

    Maryann Amodeo & Luz Marilis López

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  1. Maryann Amodeo
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  2. Luz Marilis López
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Correspondence to Maryann Amodeo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor 801, Boston, 02118-2335, Massachusetts, USA

    Richard Saitz

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Amodeo, M., López, L. (2013). Making Effective Referrals to Alcoholics Anonymous and Other 12-step Programs. In: Saitz, R. (eds) Addressing Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Primary Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4779-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4779-5_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4778-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4779-5

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