Press Releases

Instrument allows EAPs to screen general populations to quickly and accurately identify one or more behavioral health disorders and level of risk factors  


Chestnut Health Systems’ GAIN Coordinating Center (GCC), in collaboration with Chestnut Global Partners (CGP), a provider of culturally-aware employee assistance and wellness programs to companies worldwide, today announces that the GAIN-SS (Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Short Screener) is optimal for use in EAP and workplace behavioral health settings. Unlike screening instruments narrowly focused on specific disorders such as alcohol use or depression, the GAIN-SS systematically screens for multiple common behavioral health disorders at the same time and determines a level of severity. Individual screenings take approximately 5 to 10 minutes and with 90% or more accuracy will identify who has a disorder and who does not, which of four areas the disorder falls in, and their severity levels.

The GAIN-SS It has been recommended by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and multiple states, provincial and non-profit organizations as one of the most reliable, valid, efficient and inexpensive behavioral health screeners. It is easy-to-implement and user-driven, enabling EAPs as well as behavioral health and wellness providers to efficiently screen large, diverse employee populations with little initial administration; this allows them to focus their staff resources and expertise on short-term interventions, referral and linkage to treatment. The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) originated in 1993 as a collaborative effort between clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to create a comprehensive and standardized bio-psychosocial assessment tool. The goal was to bridge the gap between clinical research and the growing movement toward evidence-based practice.

“There’s a move toward using standardized tools to do screenings, but most other measures are narrowly focused on a single disorder like alcohol or depression and miss other common conditions that fall just outside the specifics the tool looks for – such as drug use, anxiety, trauma,” said Dr. Dave Sharar, Head of Commercial Science for CGP. “The GAIN-SS takes only 5 to 10 minutes to administer and, with 90% or more accuracy, identifies most common disorders and identifies their severity. The instrument gives EAPs an efficient way of engaging employer groups and guiding when to make a referral and when to retain the client for short-term EAP intervention.”

The GAIN-SS has 23 scored items, divided into four screeners designed to measure: Internalizing Disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide), Externalizing Disorders (inattention, hyperactivity, gambling, other impulse control), Substance Disorders (alcohol, other drugs), and Crime/Violence (domestic violence, property, interpersonal). EAPs can opt out of the Crime/Violence scale. Organizations can also use the GAIN-SS as a quality assurance tool across diverse field-assessment systems for staff with minimal training or direct supervision. It can also serve as a periodic measure of change over time in behavioral health – so it’s both a screening and outcome monitoring tool.

The GAIN Coordinating Center provides  HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based accounts for individuals, agencies or regional systems that can be used to administer the GAIN-SS, generate reports and/or exchange data with Electronic Health Records (HER) systems.  For more on the GAIN-SS and yearly subscription costs, visit: www.gaincc.org/instruments or contact gaininfo@chestnut.org.

About Chestnut Global Partners

Chestnut Global Partners (CGP) is a behavioral health organization based in Bloomington, IL that offers a full range of culturally aware employee assistance and related workplace services. CGP combines EAP with wellness, disability, high risk maternity, employee safety and compliance management programs, designed to promote employee well-being, improve performance and reduce absenteeism.

Chestnut Global Partners serves companies in over 140 countries. Chestnut Global Partners’ Division of Commercial Science develops and deploys scientific assessment technologies, outcome measures, and analytical methodologies so that EAPs, wellness companies, disease management entities and purchasers the world over can determine the effects and/or worth of their programs. For more, visit www.chestnutglobalpartners.org.


About GAIN Coordinating Center

The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) originated in 1993 as a collaborative effort between clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to create a comprehensive and standardized bio-psychosocial assessment tool. Dr. Michael Dennis, Senior Research Psychologist and Director of the GAIN Coordinating Center, led the development of the GAIN Initial (GAIN-I). His goal was to bridge the gap between clinical research and the growing movement toward evidence-based practice.

The GAIN has developed into a progressive and integrated family of instruments with a series of measures and computer applications designed to support a number of treatment practices. The GAIN family of instruments is appropriate for use with adolescents, young adults and adults from a variety of populations in various levels of care. The GAIN also includes a workforce development model and suite of software to support its use.  As of 2016, the GAIN was in use in all 50 States of the U.S., 10 provinces of Canada, and 10 other countries (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Great Britain, India, Japan, South Africa, and Spain).  For more, visit www.gaincc.org or contact gaininfo@chestnut.org.