Government apps tackle alcohol abuse
pharmafile | November 28, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications | alcohol, apps, howe, obesity
The winners of a £2 million government competition to produce apps which will help combat alcohol abuse and weight gain have been announced.
In a bid to make a dent in the estimated £8 billion per year that booze- and obesity-related conditions cost the NHS, the Department of Health funded the contest through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), which is designed to help SMEs win government business.
Drink Coach – an app that tracks your alcohol consumption over an evening and prompts drinkers to slow down – and The Walk, encouraging players to walk 10,000 steps every day, are among the successful apps chosen by the DH.
For the coalition this is a winner for several reasons: as well as demonstrating that the government is keen to tap into the latest technology, this initiative also shows it is promoting economic growth from the SME sector at the same time as addressing public health requirements.
And yet, although this is undoubtedly an eye-catching move, the value of health apps has recently been questioned. A report earlier this month suggested that the ‘vast majority’ are of no real use whatsoever.
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics concluded that most apps focus on diet and exercise – rather than addressing the greatest areas of need: patients over 65 who have multiple chronic diseases.
It found that more than 90% of apps directly related to patient health and treatment on the Apple iTunes app store had limited functionality – and most are barely looked at anyway, with only five apps accounting for 15% of all downloads in healthcare.
However, health minister Lord Howe thinks the new apps from this competition can make a difference. “We want to encourage innovation and these creative ideas will help people take action to improve their health and make a difference to their lives,” he insisted.
“Small businesses drive innovation in this country and through competitions like this one, we can support and inspire businesses to grow and help address the healthcare challenges facing the NHS,” Lord Howe added.
The five winners (and their developers) are:
- Drink Coach (Haringey Advisory Group on Alcohol), which prompts users on their phones to slow down during an evening’s drinking session: a version launched next spring will allow them to log alcohol-related injuries or arguments and share goals of cutting down via social media
- The Walk (Six to Start) is a smartphone adventure game with a thriller storyline which can only be completed if users keep walking: launched next month, it will feature in research at King’s College Hospital in January looking at how exercise helps rheumatoid arthritis patients
- Don’tbottleitup (Haringey Advisory Group on Alcohol) is a website where people can take a test about their drinking, generate a rating and get basic alcohol advice and information on where to go if they need more support
- StepJockey (StepJockey) is a site and app allowing people to rate and label parts of their physical environment for ‘calorie burn’, starting with stairs and encouraging people to build in exercise to their everyday lives
- Chimp Shop (Attention Retraining Technologies) is still in development but uses what the DH calls ‘psychological techniques’ to help users retrain their behaviour to assist them in reducing alcohol consumption.
NHS England London Region managed the “changing behaviour to reduce the impact of obesity and alcohol related diseases” competition through which the apps were chosen.
The SBRI is co-ordinated by the Technology Strategy Board, which is a government-led body sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Adam Hill
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