Dr. Edward Bernstein, MD, FACEP and Caitlin K. Barthelmes, MPH, of Boston University School of Public Health were invited to present at a session on the New Bedford Opiate Overdose Prevention Project at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford on April 21, 2011. With its roots in motivation interviewing, the Brief Negotiated Interview  (BNI) guides a conversation to overcome people's resistance to change. Researchers have long demonstrated that medical care providers can play a positive role in getting patients to initiate or maintain health behavior changes such as quitting smoking, losing weight, getting regular exercise or reducing the use of alcohol. The key to such approaches, however, is how the conversation between the provider and the patient is conducted. Click here for the video of the St. Luke's presentation. Click here for photos of a 2010 presentation at the Wamsutta Club. For more information about the session, contact Peter Wilmot at St. Luke's Hospital at 508-997-1515 or Carl Alves of PAACA at 508-979-1580.
 

(Top row, left) Cidalia Fidalgo of St. Luke's Hospital talks with Edward Bernstein, M.D., director of the SBIRT Program at BU before introducing him. (Top row, center) Caitlin K. Barthelmes, MPH, Manager of SBIRT Education Programs at Boston University School of Public Health describes the interviewing technique. (Bottom row, left) SBIRT screeners Kerrin Gordon of St. Luke's Hospital and Rebecca Carney of Charlton Hospital speak with Peter Wilmot of St. Luke's Hospital who works with Carl Alves, the executive director of PAACA who established the Opiate Overdose Prevention Project in New Bedford with a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.