Combat Stress veterans to trial alcohol reduction app
Combat Stress veterans to trial alcohol reduction app
Combat Stress has teamed up with the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) to conduct a trial of a veteran-specific smartphone app to assess its effectiveness in helping veterans reduce their alcohol consumption.
The Forces in Mind Trust has awarded a grant of £310,144 to KCMHR at King’s College London to carry out the trial.
The app was developed by researchers at KCMHR in collaboration with the University of Liverpool to enable self-monitoring and management of alcohol consumption in former service personnel who drink at hazardous or harmful levels.
This app was designed with veterans and uses military terminology, language and content. It also offers feedback and generates tailored text messaging. The app adapts to users’ needs and focuses on short-term consequences, such as the impact on fitness, mood, relationships and finances which help motivate veterans to reduce their alcohol consumption.
It is the first time an app aimed at former UK service personnel has been academically tested. A focus group of 10 veterans will be recruited to review and refine the app as part of the design process and 600 participants will take part in the trial. Using data from the app, the research team will assess the effectiveness of the app in reducing alcohol consumption in a real-world setting and the impact on participants’ quality of life.
The research team will also conduct a review of the benefits of using digital technology in the management and treatment of alcohol misuse.
Dr Dominic Murphy, project lead at Combat Stress, said: “This is an exciting project that aims to support former service personnel with alcohol difficulties by testing the use of an app-based treatment package that will allow individuals to access support digitally 24 hours a day at a time and location that suits them.”
Ray Lock, Chief Executive, Forces in Mind Trust, said: “Previous research has shown that more than 50% of ex-Service personnel meet the criteria for hazardous alcohol use and, while there is a range of treatment pathways available for alcohol misuse, not all ex-Service personnel are able, or want, to access support services. Digital interventions such as this can provide a novel alternative to conventional help-seeking and have been shown to be as effective as face-to-interventions at a lower cost to society.”