Step Away: Research Edition

This version of "Step Away" is by invitation only and is part of a Research Trial. You must have a trial participant's id and passcode to use the app. There is a general purpose version of Step Away available on the App Store.

Have you been having problems with alcohol? Is your drinking out of control? Have other people expressed concern that you may be struggling with alcohol addiction?

Are you ready to step away from your old drinking habits and begin your journey toward a new life?

You have just discovered the key to your journey of recovery: a revolutionary new mobile intervention system that will help you Step Away - and change your drinking habits privately and effectively.

Starting right now.

With Step Away, you have instant access to useful tools, proven strategies and helpful feedback on your progress toward alcohol addiction recovery - all available with a touch on your personal iPhone.

The features and information provided within Step Away stem from decades of research on effective interventions for alcohol addiction treatment.

During a pilot study (funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), an early version of Step Away was shown to substantially reduce both overall and problem drinking. People who used the early prototype - which provided far fewer features and less interactivity than this version - for only six weeks, were shown to cut down the days they spent engaged in heavy drinking by 60% and to reduce their overall number of drinks consumed by 50%.

Step Away offers alcohol addiction help when friends, family, therapists or groups may not be available or immediately present. Step Away provides strategies and reminders to help you overcome alcohol addiction during high risk times.

Step Away will be your personal assistant as you go through the process of changing your drinking. It provides the structure you need to help you stop altogether or to reduce your drinking to safe levels. The app empowers you by providing custom configuration for many features so you can decide how it will be most helpful to you. No need to wait until your next meeting with your counselor to receive helpful strategies and feedback on your progress in your journey to conquer alcohol addiction. Immediate help will be right there on your iPhone.

Step Away will also provide resources you can share with your support person(s) (these are a person or people who really care about you and want to help you but may not know how) - to help them learn how they can help you succeed in your journey toward changing your drinking.

In a nutshell, Step Away will help you to:

• Become more aware of your drinking patterns and triggers.

• Set an overall drinking objective (to either stop drinking OR moderate your drinking) as well as smaller intermediate goals to help you succeed in stages.

• Reward yourself when you meet your goals.

• Stay in control when you are feeling tempted to drink by providing immediately available tools.

• Learn new and helpful strategies for dealing with cravings, bad moods and boredom.

• Keep you on track during your personally defined “high risk times” for drinking.

• Remind yourself about your reasons for making a change when you are feeling like drinking or are in a tempting situation.

• Set up a support team and reach out for help when you need it.

• Share your progress with others (family, friends or health care provider).

• Monitor your progress through weekly reports on your drinking, your triggers and your mood.

• Help you prepare for “high risk events” in the coming week - and strategically avoid alcohol triggers.

• Identify alternate (non-drinking) activities and schedule them directly into your calendar.