Using technology for training in and the delivery of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment.

Abstract

O riginally, the joke "There's an app for that" was meant to convey lighthearted awe at the fast-growing popularity of mobile applications (apps) designed to help users access driving directions, chat with friends, or check social media sites. In 2010, at the height of this joke's popularity, the Apple iPhone boasted 250,000 apps (Gross, 2010). In 2018, Google Play (the app store for Android smartphones) and Apple combined had roughly 5 million apps (Clement, 2019). Now, there literally is an app for almost everything.Psychologists from a variety of specialties are using technology to advance the mission of the American Psychological Association (APA), namely, the "advancement, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives" (APA, n.d., p. 5). We have myriad opportunities to integrate technology into our work, particularly for training and service delivery, and indeed, we recommend that all psychologists embrace technology for its potential to advance scientific findings and promote health more widely. In this chapter, we discuss how tech-enabled screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) can be delivered to clients and how clinicians can use technology platforms to receive training in SBIRT.