According to WHO, 3 million deaths every year result from harmful use of alcohol. These deaths represent 5.3 % of all deaths. Australian organization Hello Sunday Morning has been tackling alcohol abuse for over a decade with a digital approach that has by today been developed to the level of a soon to be a digital therapeutic (DTx). Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and lock-down across the world, Hello Sunday Morning has been noticing an increase in alcohol consumption.

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“This is very concerning since we might see people getting admitted to hospitals due to alcohol abuse in times when we need people to be healthier than ever. I would, therefore, urge people in distress to reach out to their community, someone close to them or support programs such as Daybreak, to ease their anxiety,” says Jamie Moore, General Manager & Daybreak Co-Founder at Hello Sunday Morning. Daybreak is an online program that helps you change your relationship with alcohol through a supportive community, habit-change experiments, and one-on-one chat with health coaches.

How about having a productive Sunday Morning?

Hello Sunday Morning is an organization based in Sydney, Australia, with the mission to change the world’s relationship with alcohol. It was founded over a decade ago, when its founder Chris Raine, then a marketing agent, got assigned a campaign to raise awareness about the harmfulness of binge drinking, which Australia is famous for. 

Instead of emphasizing the negative effects of drinking, Raine decided to do an experiment: abstain from drinking for a period of time and blog about the experience. The campaign got a strong response from the community, and very quickly, people with drinking problems started sharing their stories about alcohol use and concerns associated with it. 

What is the research behind Daybreak as a DTx? 

“We are a member of the DTx Alliance, which defines Daybreak as an aspiring DTx. We are not fully approved and regulated digital therapeutic yet. We have very high user satisfaction and engagement with over 100.000 people who used and downloaded the platform so far. We conducted a study of the program’s effects, which revealed that the use of Daybreak significantly decreased alcohol consumption for two groups. Probably dependent drinkers with 40+ drinks per week, decreased their number of drinks to 20+ drinks per week. This is still too much, but a significant reduction and much safer use,” explains Jamie Moore, adding that the other group of users consumed between 20 to 30 drinks per week before joining Daybreak, and with the use of the app their consumption went time to about 12 drinks per weeks. 

Daybreak is currently included in reimbursement programs in Australia for a limited number of users. Elsewhere around the world, the app is an out of pocket expense, which might change with the rise of DTx recognition and inclusion in healthcare insurance schemes. 

Why aren’t you drinking?

There is a causal relationship between the harmful use of alcohol and a range of mental and behavioural disorders. However, alcohol, besides coffee, is a socially very acceptable drug. Even more so, it is socially expected at certain occasions such as after-work meetings or wedding. In these settings, people can find it hard to resist the social pressure to drink. “There are several approaches to that problem — what seems to work well for some of our users, is to order a sparkling soft drink with lemon, to avoid the potential question — Why aren’t you drinking?” says Jamie Moore. 

Hello Sunday Morning is present in Australia, has users in the US, Canada and Ireland to mention a few. At the moment, outside of Australia, the program is an out-of-pocket cost. Hopefully, with the recognition of DTx globally, this will change.

Tune in for the full discussion: 

Some questions addressed: 

• Can you take us through the journey of Hello Sunday Morning, which is an over a decade old organization helping people with alcohol abuse issues? 

• Daybreak is an online program that helps you change your relationship with alcohol through a supportive community, habit-change experiments, and one-on-one chat with health coaches. Based on your blog it seems there’s a lot of focus on behavioural change and mindfulness, so can you describe how the program works?

• What is the clinical evidence behind the Daybreak program? 

• What trends are you noticing during the COVID-19 lock-downs across the world? 

• How transferable is the program to other addictions? 

• What is the impact of the digital component of your solution? Is it about anonymity, reaching more people compared to ordinary AA meetings, where are the benefits?

• What do you see as the biggest barrier to success in alcohol prevention and moderate drinking or abstinence? Your members often talk about social expectations to drink at a hen’s night or their daughter’s wedding, after-work drinks, etc.

• Which countries is Hello Sunday Morning present in?