Responsible Beverage Service practices for retail sellers of alcohol have been shown to be an effective intervention in preventing underage individuals and intoxicated patrons from attempting to purchase alcohol in off-site retail alcohol sales establishments, and in reducing Driving While Intoxicated events and related crashes, morbidity and mortality. Nonetheless, RBS retail practices, and seller training in particular, have not reached potential effectiveness because of a lack of clear training standards, and inconsistency in training efforts and implementation. Further, one-shot seller training, like other training that is completed within a short period, runs the risk of having only short-term and temporary benefits. A solution to these training difficulties is to offer Responsible Beverage Retail Service training via the Internet. Proposed here is a project that will systematically develop an interactive server training (IST) website and a Responsible Beverage Service Implementation and Follow-up website (RBSIF) via iterative website design research specifically for off-premise retail sellers of alcohol. The IST will be implemented in four communities in New Mexico, and sellers in premises in those communities will be trained via this website. Once trained, the RBSIF website will be made available to participating off-premises over time to promote the adoption of RBS practices by management, prompt premise management to support sellers in RBS practices, and provide ongoing support for sellers to enact RBS practices. The effects of these RBS website interventions will be examined within a two-group randomized field trial where 60 premises in the four New Mexico communities will be randomized to receive the RBS website interventions, and another 60 premises will receive the standard state-mandated seller training. Four waves of pseudo-underage buyer/observer surveys, where trained pseudo-underage buyers attempt to purchase alcohol at off-premise retail establishments, will be carried out across all 120 premises at pretest, immediate post-test, 6 month, and 12 month assessment points. The proposed project carries important implications for improving the effects of Responsible Beverage Service practices, and prompting their wider adoption nationwide. ? ? ?
