CAMH partners with Ontario LRADG Public Health Working Group

Big news for our Saying When app!

Alcohol consumption is a significant population health issue. While most people drink responsibly, exceeding low-risk drinking is associated with a variety of social and health harms. To address these potential harms, public health and other allied health professionals in Ontario actively work to promote low-risk drinking and moderation. A helpful resource to this work is Canada’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRADGs), an established set of guidelines that help those who choose to drink to do so in a way that supports a healthy lifestyle.

Key features of the Saying When app:

• An introduction to Canada’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines
• The “Taking Stock” feature, which lets people identify current habits to help set goals – Infographics that describe and define standard drink sizes
• Tracking features where people can enter the drinks they consume and then monitor the quantity of drinks.
• A coping section that shows which approaches work best for the user when they are trying to cut back or quit drinking.

Tamar Meyer, supervisor with CAMH’s Provincial System Support Program (PSSP), has lead a collaboration between CAMH and Ontario’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines Public Health Working Group. The goal: increase awareness of the LRADGs and access to the Saying When iOS app across Ontario’s Public Health System as part of the Rethink Your Drinking campaign. Stakeholders working in the province’s 36 local public health units may find the app particularly useful given that the LRADGs are currently a monitoring indicator in Ontario’s public health system.

This fits perfectly with PSSP’s role to share CAMH research and expertise, and to identify and share evidence-based tools that can have an impact on Ontario’s mental health and addictions system.

“This collaboration highlights CAMH’s provincial reach and ability to broker relationships with different provincial stakeholders, including public health, by identifying system needs and responding with evidence-based resources,” says Tamar.

We’re thrilled to be a part of this exciting opportunity! Thanks, Tamar!

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