C.A.R.E.S.: A Mobile Health Program for Alcohol Risk Reduction for an Under-Served College Population

Project Summary AbstractExcessive alcohol use is the third leading preventable cause of death in the U Swith young adults agesshowing the highest rates of hazardous alcohol useCommunity colleges serve overmillion studentscomprisingof all U Scollege studentsCommunity college studentsCCSshow rates of heavy alcohol use similar to students at traditional four year residentialFYRcollegesbut CCS are at higher risk for negative consequences of heavy drinkingincluding physical and sexual assaultfatal injuriesand driving under the influenceDespite the large number of CCS and their level of riskalcohol interventions for young adults have focused almost exclusively on students at FYR collegesCCS differ from those at FYR colleges in several waysCCS are more likely to have multiple roles and responsibilitiese gemploymentdrive moreto from campuslive with familyand socialize off campusand thus require intervention approaches tailored to their life circumstancesCommunity colleges are less likely to offer health services than FYR institutions and typically lack resources needed to implement alcohol interventions that are recommended for traditional college studentssuch as in person motivational counselingApproaches that can deliver effective alcohol harm reduction messages to CCS using a modality that is flexibleaccessibleand tailored to their specific needs are urgently neededThis proposed FastTrack STTRPARbuilds on our successful pilot in which we developed a text messageTxMdelivered alcohol intervention forand in collaboration with CCSIn Phase Iwe will develop and iteratively test a smartphone applicationappincorporating our TxM program with additional features and functionality requested by students in our pilot trialAimAfter obtaining user feedbackAimwe will complete programming in both iOS and Android languagesAimTo ensure that the College Alcohol Risk Education SystemCARESis well positioned to get into the community college marketplaceit is critical to demonstrate efficacyThereforein Phase IIwe will conduct an efficacy trialAimof CARES compared to a competing alcohol education program that would be feasible for most community colleges to adoptthus providing a real world comparison with data suitable to support our efforts in future commercializationWe also seek to identify the types of individuals for whom CARES is more less effectiveAimand identify how it might be improvedAimWith an increasing number of states making community college free to state residentsdemand for services is likely to increase rapidly in coming yearsWith overcommunity college systems across the U Sthis seems an opportune moment to be targeting this market for health promotion products such as the CARES app PROJECT NARRATIVE While heavy alcohol use is a significant health problem for community college studentswho comprise nearlyof all college students nationwidealcohol programs currently marketed to colleges rely on resources that are typically not available on community college campusesThis project will develop and test a smartphone app to provide an alcohol risk reduction program designed forand in collaboration withcommunity college studentsAn effective evidencebased intervention tailored to the needs of this population could have a major impact on the health of millions of Americans who are at high risk from the consequences of heavy drinking