Using D&A and Health Apps to Engage Workers

Every day new apps are introduced in the marketplace, and they are becoming more useful all the time. Though they have been around for many years now, it is only the last couple of years that they exploded in terms of numbers. The more apps that are developed, the more uses people are discovering for them. They are used for shopping, finding businesses, banking, and so on. Now they are also being developed as tools for use in workplace drug and alcohol education programs.

Apps represent the personalisation of technology because they streamline accessing the information people are most interested in. For those not familiar with apps, the term “app” is short for application. Apps are self-contained programs that make it easier to use mobile technology like smartphones and tablet computers when looking for information on the web by making the information readable on the smaller screens. There are also web-based apps that run on personal computers.

Creative Worker Education Approaches

Employers interested in using technology will like knowing that there are now apps that can be used in a variety of ways to streamline worker education programs concerned with drug and alcohol use or that can be shared with workers interested in technology tools that help them stay substance free. For example, an attendee at that the Australian School Librarian Association wrote about an app that enables the creation and recording of live screen action and could be used to create tutorials. It functions as an interactive whiteboard tool and includes the ability to animate, import, narrate, and much more.¹ Employers could conceivably use such an app with this type of functionality to develop interactive presentations on workplace policies and procedures or to educate workers on the safety and health issues related to alcohol and illicit drug use.

There are many apps like the interactive whiteboard available today, and some were specifically written around the theme of drugs and alcohol. They are becoming so numerous and so popular that the Australian Drug Information Network now does monthly app reviews. Each month, employers can review the apps to see if any would be useful in the workplace or if they could share any of the app information with workers to encourage their use. For example, as of September 2013 the apps included:²

• App that provides information about various drugs with the drug lists sorted under different headings like pharmaceuticals and chemicals
• App to streamline reading of research reports and provide interactive ability
• App that enables calorie consumption and burning (including alcohol) and progress sharing with others, so could be used as a workplace health program tool
• Appt that acts as a buddy to anyone who wants to quit smoking

Apps and More Apps

There are apps addressing alcohol consumption, apps providing access to the Victoria Better Health Channel, and an app that explains how Ice or crystal methamphetamine affects a user’s body. The apps can be used as drug and alcohol education tools in workplace programs, to deliver training in off-site locations, and to encourage active worker interest and participation in promoting a substance free environment for all employees. Employers looking for tools that better engage workers and provide up-to-date information should review the available apps.

Technology impacts almost everything today from apps to sophisticated drug & alcohol testing supplies and equipment. Mediscreen (mediscreen.net.au) takes advantage of technology in every way possible, including for the delivering of efficient services and drug screening results via a web-based portal.

This article has been taken from : http://www.mediscreen.net.au/using-da-and-health-apps-to-engage-workers/