ABSTRACT
Health and social care professionals in both primary healthcare and residential settings are usually the first point of contact for clients who have potential or early alcohol and drug problems. The initial management of those with the early stage of use is not the sole responsibility of specialist workers and addiction specialists (Rassool and Marshall 2001). An active involvement of the different cadres of health and social care workers is indispensable in the early prevention, recognition, screening and brief interventions of alcohol and drug misusers. This chapter will examine the generic role of health and social care professionals in hospital and primary healthcare settings in relation to intervention and management of alcohol and drug misuse and the rationale for working with substance misusers.
