Modif-i Alcohol Community App Trial

Monash University, in partnership with Turning Point and Deakin University, has been funded to trial a new brain-training smartphone app that aims to reduce people’s automatic responses to images of alcohol, to see if it can help people reduce their alcohol craving and consumption.

The study will compare different versions of the app to test whether the brain training can help people who are experiencing alcohol problems and want to reduce or stop drinking, but who are not seeking treatment.

Recruitment has been completed and follow-up data collection is in progress. We expect to have final results in the second half of 2026 and will update this page accordingly.

The study is funded by a Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant from the National Medical and Health Research Council.

Modif-i App Privacy Policy

Data collected within the Modif-i app is stored on a secure Google Cloud Platform (GCP) cloud server protected with two-factor authentication which is only accessible by the research team and the Monash University app developers. Data in the GCP database will be labelled with the access code you used to activate Modif-i and this database will not include any details that identify you. This information is fully anonymised and only the research team can connect it to the information you provided earlier in the online survey you completed before you received the app. Following completion of the study, researchers will delete phone numbers and any other identifying information from the data collected in that earlier online survey.

Any information obtained in connection with this research project that can identify you will remain confidential. It will only be disclosed with your permission, except as required by law. A serious and imminent threat to harm yourself or others may be subject to reporting to a third person. Any information concerning the protective safety of children is subject to reporting to relevant authorities.

We intend to publish the findings of this study in scientific journals and to present the findings at scientific conferences. We will also place a plain-language summary of the project’s findings on the Turning Point website (https://www.turningpoint.org.au/), and will include links to any publications that arise from the project on that page. Publicly presented data will only include numerical data and statistical analyses. It will not include descriptions of your personal history or any other information which may identify you.

After completion of the project, the deidentified data will be stored on a Monash University computer drive for at least 15 years following publication of the last paper arising from this study, or 15 years after the final report to the ethics committee, or 15 years after final reporting of outcomes on a clinical trials registry, whichever occurs latest. Please be aware that if you cease participating in the research, we will retain any data you already provided, to use in our analyses to help us understand whether or not the app is helpful, unless you specifically instruct us not to retain these data. If you do not want us to retain your data, you will need to contact the researchers to inform them of this.

If you wish to contact the research team, please email us at [email protected]