Oral

The intent of this session is to describe the development and initial behavioral effects of the Program for Alcohol Training, Research, and Online Learning (PATROL), a Web-based alcohol intervention in the military. PATROL is an ongoing program designed to develop and test the effectiveness of a Web-based alcohol education program among active duty military personnel. PATROL is funded by the TRICARE Management Activity within the Department of Defense. For PATROL, two Web-based alcohol interventions that were originally designed for civilian populations were adapted for use in the military, and a pilot test was conducted at eight military installations. The five speakers in this session will provide background information on alcohol use in the military, describe and give demonstrations of the two Web-based alcohol interventions, summarize the pilot study data on program effectiveness, and discuss the role of research in determining military health policy.

Session Objectives: Technology-Based Learning Objectives:
Recognize the usefulness of web-based alcohol education programs in the United States military.
Identify the key features of the web-based programs that have been selected for use in this military pilot test
Assess the effectiveness of these web-based programs in reducing heavy alcohol use in the military.