Can smartphones help us reduce our alcohol consumption?

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An app may help you estimate your blood alcohol level, but a quality breathalyser will give you a better guide. Credit Nauris Ranga https://unsplash.com/photos/grL-KZkITeQ (image modified).

There’s no doubt that Australia is a connected nation. With more mobile phones and mobile phone subscriptions in the nation than there are people, it’s clear we rely on mobile technology more and more.

With all this smart technology, can mobile phones help us reduce our alcohol consumption? Can they help us avoid failing alcohol testing if we do drink and then drive or go to work?

Can mobile phones help us reduce alcohol consumption?

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to know that there are apps to help us reduce alcohol consumption. In fact, there are a multitude – both free and paid – that you will find in the App Store or on Google Pay.

Although it’s still in the development stage and is not yet available, one that we’re particularly interested in is Swipe. It’s being developed by Australia’s leading national addiction treatment, training and research centre, Turning Point, with support from Monash University.

As the developers say, “SWiPE uses evidence-based brain training to help users avoid alcohol cues and strengthen conscious control over their drinking.”

It uses a form of brain training based on neuroscience that gets to the root of a person’s drinking habit. It’s backed by scientific research, unlike a lot of other apps on the market, which for us potentially sets this app apart from others.

Can apps help you avoid failing alcohol testing?

There are also apps that can potentially help you avoid failing alcohol testing.

For example, there are alcohol trackers that will help you keep track of how much alcohol you’ve consumed over a given period. They work in much the same way as online blood alcohol concentration calculators, that allow you to calculate – or more correctly estimate – your blood alcohol concentration.

We stress the term estimate, because that’s all these apps and online portals do. They should only ever be used as a rough guide and never be relied upon to avoid failing alcohol testing.

Alcohol-related apps

Here are some alcohol-related apps that can help people with alcohol in various ways. For example:

  • Sober Grid, which connects people who want to get sober.
  • Twenty-Four Hours a Day, which provides meditations to help people focus on Alcohol Anonymous’ 12-step system.
  • Sobriety Counter, that allows people to set targets and track progress.
  • Nomo, which helps people track the time they’ve been sober and the money they’ve saved.
  • There are several apps that connect with personal breathalysers to display estimated blood alcohol concentration and estimate when you’ll be safe to drive or go to work.

Forget smartphones. Go for smart technology

If you really want smart technology, then the most accurate way to estimate your blood alcohol concentration won’t come from your phone. It will come from a quality breathalyser that will be far more accurate than any app or a cheap breathalyser that can be purchased online or in stores.

For example, the Drager Alcotest 4000. The precise technology of this breathalyser provides fast and reliable blood alcohol concentration measures. And, with a Father’s Day special price of $345 including shipping and GST, it will make a great gift for dad.

Certainly better than socks and jocks!

FEATURED IMAGE CAPTION:

An app may help you estimate your blood alcohol level, but a quality breathalyser will give you a better guide. Credit Nauris Ranga https://unsplash.com/photos/grL-KZkITeQ (image modified).

By Michael

Michael is the founder of Integrity Sampling and is responsible for overseeing all national operations. He is based at Integrity Sampling's head office in Melbourne and is also responsible for the co-ordination of drug and alcohol testing within Victoria, assisting in the implementation of drug and alcohol (fit for work) policies and the presentation of drug and alcohol education and awareness programs. You can connect with Michael Wheeldon on LinkedIn

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