Digital Human-Based Brief Interventions for Harmful Alcohol Use: The PAHOLA Project

Plain-language summary

Alcohol use disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders in Canada; however, due to numerous barriers, including fear of treatment, privacy concerns, stigma, time conflicts, and lack of availability of treatment, less than 10% of people with alcohol dependence receive treatment. Accordingly, there is a need to expand treatment coverage for alcohol use disorders, especially for populations which face barriers to receiving treatment. The objective of this proposed project is to develop a digital health worker, named PAHOLA, which can effectively deliver interventions to people who would not otherwise receive such treatment. To achieve this objective, the following research aims will be addressed: 1. To develop a digital human-based intervention that can initiate change processes and reduce alcohol use by applying the principles of motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in a credible manner. 2. To assess the impact of the virtual care provided by PAHOLA on health outcomes using a randomized controlled study design (RCT) to assess potential effect sizes for a larger future RCT. If successful, the PAHOLA project has the potential to transform our ability to prevent alcohol-attributable harms in Canada by promoting health, health equity, and well-being, especially among those people who do not normally receive treatment for harmful alcohol use.

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