City council collaborates with developers on mobile app to support people fighting drug and alcohol addiction
City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Partnership have launched a mobile phone and tablet app to support people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
Named Addiction Recovery Companion-Edinburgh (ARC-Edinburgh), it has come from the council’s annual Edinburgh Apps challenge, in which it adds support to local developers of mobile apps to support health and wellbeing.
The new app has been developed by Anne-Marie Mann and Ella Robbins through a series of consultations with people in recovery. It is aimed at helping users tap into the addiction recovery network in the city, and to track their progress and motivate themselves to continue.
Inspirations
It directs users to recovery services, events and meetings and enables them to share inspirational quotes, articles or links that helped them. It also helps them to plan their time but does not gather any personal information.
Features includes a calendar, diary to record highs and lows in words and photos, and an emergency function that users can press when they urgently need support from a personal contact. It also has an optional counter for recording the number of days in recovery.
David Williams from the Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Partnership said: “There are over 150 events in Edinburgh every week where people in recovery come together to share their strength, hope and experience or just to take part in social, learning or leisure events.
“We hope that the app will enable people to find the support that helps them get on their feet as well as helping them to plan their time and keep focused.”
Image from City of Edinburgh Council
