WayToServe Español: Online Responsible Beverage Service Training for Spanish-Speaking Servers

Overview

Responsible Beverage Service Training (RBS) has been shown to be effective and recent research by this research team has shown that online RBS training (WayToServe®) was more effective, particularly over time, than usual and customary (UC) RBS training by live trainers. However, one growing segment of alcohol servers and sellers has been neglected in RBS training efforts: Hispanic primarily Spanish-speaking servers in predominantly Spanish-speaking premises. This project will develop and test the first online RBS training for predominantly Spanish-speaking servers, WayToServe Español, which is culturally and linguistically appropriate and will fill a gap in evidence-based alcohol prevention interventions for this underserved population.

Among the measures against drunk driving available to policy makers and prevention practitioners, Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training has shown promise. In these programs, alcohol servers are educated in a number of techniques, including correct identification checking, recognizing signs of intoxication in patrons, and managing patrons via drink counting techniques to safely keep them under Driving While Intoxicated blood alcohol limits. Recent reviews of RBS programs have found evidence for effectiveness. However, the diffusion of RBS training and practices has been limited: 18 U.S. states require some form of RBS training, another 18 incentivize training in some way, and the other 14 states have no RBS regulations at all. As a result, while RBS training may be widely available, it is not widely adopted. An overlooked limitation of all RBS training in the U.S., and a limit to its dissemination, is that it is only offered in English and from a mainstream U.S. culture point of view. Proposed here is the development and testing of a Spanish-language version of an evidence-based online RBS training program (WayToServe®) that will be culturally tailored to Hispanic cultural values, experiences, and circumstances: WayToServe Español. The systematic development of WayToServe Español will meet the training needs of an underserved and growing population segment of alcohol servers and sellers - Hispanics who are predominant speakers of Spanish and who often work in premises with many predominantly Spanish-speaking patrons. The proposed Direct-to-Phase II research will be accomplished in two phases. The first phase will entail the iterative and systematic development of WayToServe Español via Spanish-language focus groups and usability testing. The second phase will involve the evaluation of WayToServe Español in Spanish-dominant premises in New Mexico and West Texas via a randomized efficacy trial that randomly assigns premises to either receive WayToServe Español training or Usual and Customary (UC) RBS training. A variety of alcohol service refusal rates will be the primary outcome variable, measured using a pseudo-intoxicated Pseudo-Patron (PP) buyer assessment protocol. Premises will be assessed at baseline, post-training, and 9-month follow up intervals. Should WayToServe Español prove effective, commercialization plans include efforts similar to those for WayToServe® (English), now available in four states (New Mexico, Texas, California, Washington, and under review for approval in Oregon) and having trained nearly 29,000 alcohol servers and sellers. Overall, the project will bolster efforts to diffuse an effective RBS training to underserved Spanish-speaking alcohol servers and sellers, benefitting both them directly and the communities in which they live. WayToServe Español will be the first culturally- and linguistically-appropriate evidence-based RBS training available online in the U.S. for this underserved population.