Alcohol Change UK have published a new rapid evidence review on digital interventions. The review is the first of six recently commissioned reports on a selection of alcohol-related topics.
Key findings include:
- Most digital interventions have been evaluated with randomized controlled trials, and there is a need to use alternative research methods to evaluate them.
- Populations that are most at risk of alcohol-related harm have been understudied.
- Digital interventions are increasingly delivered via the internet and smartphone apps, sometimes in combination with biosensors.
- Alcohol reduction apps available in the app stores are increasingly using interactive features.
See here for the executive summary [pdf] or full report [pdf].
Under conclusions and recommendations, the report states:
This is an active and rapidly evolving field of research and technological development. It is important to develop and evaluate digital interventions for populations that are most at risk of alcohol-related harm and use a range of research methods to evaluate newly emerging digital technologies. It is also important to ensure that the features of effective digital interventions are identified, and consider how these might differ depending on the population that is receiving the intervention. Given the speed of development in this field there is a need to keep the evidence base regularly updated.
A recent alcohol special edition of The Psychologist featured an assessment of the evidence and role for digital interventions in supporting alcohol-related behaviour change in 'Finding moderation online' [pdf here]. Last year we published a guest post by Dr Claire Garnett exploring the findings of the cochrane review.
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