Connecting the DisconnectedPEER MOBILE

E. Dentler 2016

Peer Mobile Summary Addiction is a disease of isolation. It is a chronic disease that affects 24m adults and those affected rarely stay sober by themselves. Learning to form healthy new relationships with like-minded peers is essential. New tools are becoming available to help people navigate the safest path to long-term recovery.

Peer Mobile is mobile application that acts as a digital buddy system, to help reinforce sobriety and speed the return to work and society. The app is built using familiar, off-the-shelf software and application programming interfaces (API) to reduce software development costs and encourage usage. The app incorporates learning’s from peer-based therapy, one of the most successful trends in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and addiction medicine. It is timed to take advantage of the shift to a connected mobile lifestyle. In today’s world, people prefer text messaging for regular communications and they are willing to share more personal information with friends they trust. Peer Mobile takes advantage of this and scales to greatly improve the ratio of Mentor to Mentees, by simplifying the connections between the large populations of people in need, with a far smaller population of available mentors in a community.

Peer Mobile would be marketed to recovery and detox centers. Upon completion of treatment, a discharge counselor could assist the client in downloading and setting up the app. A temporary mentor could be assigned to help the client with the transition to the community and encourage them to meet new sober peers and avoid isolating. The app will also be promoted to sober living homes, colleges and universities that have sober dormitories and intensive outpatient programs. We also anticipate strong viral growth within the 12-Step community.On-going software development would be offset by a monthly subscription fee charged to service providers for access to [privacy protected] monthly reports on relapse mitigation app effectiveness and for research.   

“Connection is the Opposite of Addiction.” Tracey Helton Mitchell, author of The Big Fix

Project Roots – Inflection Point

SmartphoneRevolution

Peer Therapy

Mobile LifestyleAddictionEpidemic

ConnectedCommunities

We are the most connected people in history, but many report feeling

moreisolated and anxious than ever

Re-learning to form healthy new connections

is essential to long term sobriety

People in recovery benefit most from a community of peers

Sample Use Case: Triggers, Relapse Mitigation

Situation: A young woman is six weeks sober and experiencing symptoms of Post Acute Withdrawal. While she’s filling out a job application, a former acquaintance suddenly appears.

Hey girl, how you been?Wanna Chill?

Environmental Triggers

Her former drug dealer and “boyfriend”

She taps the HELP Button and an automated Group Message is sent to her Mentor and various Sober Soldiers. Geotags show her location. Friends who are on-line respond

immediately.

Please Call me

Please Text me

Please Pick Me Up

Problem – The triggered brain decides in seconds whether to Use Solution - Her Best Option is to use the Lifeline service

Hope in a Pocket Mentor Moderated Messaging – Core Features• Lifeline Service• Meetings Finder • Sober Days counter • Cool & Sober places and resources geotags• Daily Reminders• Program Milestone Rewards• Automated meeting attendance forms

Efficacy Algorithm & PrivacyTrust & EffectivenessPeer Mobile is a hybrid native application wrapped in HTML5. No registration is needed, no message history is stored on the device or in the cloud. As more heath care providers begin to include savings incentives for healthy lifestyles, metrics are needed to track the effectiveness on relapse mitigation from use of the tool. The balance between protecting client privacy(cloaked & verified ID) and sobriety reporting is fully opt-in and encrypted end to end.

Adherence to sobriety and program participation are available by monthly subscription access to report summaries in table or graphic form. The efficacy algorithm uses encrypted mobile client data.Geolocation and Logging data includes, but is not be limited to:

– Frequency of contact with Mentors– Days Sober counter: Digital verification from a combination of Life Coach,

Counselor, Sober Living house manager, IOP client managers and the community or fellowship Mentor.

– 12-Step and/or Non spiritual program meeting attendance– Sober Geofencing – days spent within sober boundaries– Daily Reminders and virtual meetings attended (Read Receipts)– Calendar tracker score: Adherence to meetings, attendance sign-off sheets– Police Contact tracker– Drug Test results monitoring

Research (partial list) Periodicals, Lectures, ConferencesDr. Anna Lembke, Stanford Addiction Medicine https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/anna-lembkeEphemeral, Temporary Social Media http://tinyurl.com/hrt6ozaACCESS to Advocacy, A Curriculum for Domestic Violence Advocates http://tinyurl.com/zu8d9gnSAMHSA Peer Support https://youtu.be/4zcRXzVjaOM Brief Peer effectiveness https://youtu.be/DV1SBB-HF0ohttp://peersforprogress.org/learn-about-peer-support/science-behind-peer-support/https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=p9CGA9MHRtshttp://www.samhsa.gov/recovery/peer-support-social-inclusionhttp://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/http://www.amazon.com/Battered-Women-Their-Families-Intervention/dp/0826145922http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/fashion/08anon.html?_r=0Stanford poverty demographics http://tinyurl.com/jjs3bfmhttp://alcoholrehab.com/addiction-articles/domestic-violence-and-addiction/http://www.jenniferschneider.com/articles/domestic.htmlMillennial culture - Washington Post http://tinyurl.com/ouj6mby Vanity Fair, the hookup culture http://tinyurl.com/ptctzamBooksA Drinking Life by Pete Hamill, 1995Smashed, Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zalickas, 2006Eric Clapton, The Autobiography by Eric Clapton 2008 Scar Tissue, by Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman, 2005The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis, 2016Health Care Providers

North Bay Recovery Center, San Rafael, Marin CA. http://northbayrecoverycenter.com/Sequoia Healthcare District, Redwood City, CA.

Bingers (1 in 4 adults)

- Multiple Rehabs & Sober Living - May be in Post-Acute w/drawl- High Mistrust, tends to Isolate- Obsessive thinking

High Relapse Rate

Acute Stage<6 mos. sober

Bingers High School and College partying evolves into a lifestyle in the working 20’s. Frequent Happy Hours begin interfering at work. More severe hangovers, mid-day drinks/pills, agitation, increased sick days and job loss. Baby Boomers - SEE http://tinyurl.com/lh9ectg Wall Street Journal.

Peer Mobile

Stable skeptics 1-3 years sober

- May receive some counseling- Reduced cravings but still at risk- Prefers a non-spiritual program- Open to Learning from Others

Large pop. of

Unreached

Target Population

Suffering Alone