Screening Overview

Let's look at screening in more detail. Screening should be a routine part of every contact with a nurse, social worker, or other healthcare professional, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sometimes the same person conducts both parts of the process; other times the screen might be delivered by a colleague and handed off to you for the brief intervention, or vice versa.

Screening tools are a set of paper-based or electronic questions, completed by the individual. Screenings can also be administered verbally by a practitioner asking each question and providing the possible responses. Screening takes a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the tool you use and if it is self-administered. Some tools are specific to adolescents, while others are for adults.

Research shows that teens are more honest when they fill out a screen on their own; however, if you think an adolescent's answers are inaccurate, you may want to discuss with him or her further.

A screening tool should be used exactly as written for it to be effective. Altering questions with your own language leads to vague and sometimes inaccurate answers.