Programs

Alcohol Help Center

The Alcohol Help Center (AHC) helps people check their drinking behavior, give them the tools and information designed to help them deal with any concerns, and provide them access to a supportive community of others who are dealing with drinking problems. The user begins by completing Check Your Drinking, Evolution’s evidence-based brief intervention. Multiple studies have demonstrated that problem drinkers who complete Check Your Drinking reduce their drinking to healthier levels and even sustain the reductions long-term. Watch what senior scientist John Cunningham, from CAMH has to say about the Check Your Drinking screener.

For those who seek more intensive support, users have access to the AHC’s Structure Relapse Prevention and Goal Setting modules. Online support and moderated online communities are available around the clock for users to simply browse or anonymously participate in real discussions with peers and trained Health Educators. Additional support is available via opt-in email and text messaging campaigns.

Stop Smoking Center

The Stop Smoking Center (SSC) is a web-based smoking cessation software platform that incorporates proven approaches including Stages of Change, Motivational Interviewing and the Health Belief model. The program increases successful quit rates by providing personalized behavior modification while educating members on appropriate NRT and/or pharmaceutical aid usage and offering expert and peer support.

Key elements include an active online community moderated by Health Educators, an opt-in motivational email support campaign, optional text messaging support, clinically-based dependency tests, norm-frequency analysis, readiness-to-quit exercises, tracking tools such as the quit meter, tracking money saved, cigarettes not smoked life gained since giving up smoking.

Depression Center

The Depression Center is a 16-session interactive course written by a team of practicing therapists and research scientists. Evolution's research shows participants achieve significant 40% reductions in depressive symptoms after only four sessions. One of the most popular tools is the moderated online communities. Trained Health Educators guide discussions and maintain a helpful, accurate and supportive environment.

The Depression Center also provides a wide range of useful features including a self-guided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program; homework and tracking sheets; The Mood Tracker, an interactive tracking tool to monitor symptom improvement over time; weekly check-ins and reviews; a baseline assessment; progress tracker; and glossaries with easy-to-understand explanations of common terms and medications.

Panic Center

Using a 12-session approach, the Panic Center (PC) is designed to help those suffering from Anxiety and Panic disorders. Outcomes results demonstrated a “dose-response” relationship, with significant improvement in frequency and severity of anxious episodes after only four sessions. As with the other programs, the moderated online community provides a supportive and anonymous means of connecting with others. Trained Health Educators guide discussions and maintain a helpful, accurate and supportive environment.

After the confidential registration is completed, users have access to a wide range of features including a self-guided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program; goal-setting; homework and tracking sheets; weekly check-ins and reviews; moderated online communities, including the web-based Private Messaging service; and glossaries with easy-to-understand explanations of common terms and medications.

Healthy Weight Center

The Healthy Weight Center (HWC) is a goal-driven program addressing the key elements of successful weight loss and maintenance: nutrition, fitness and behavior. Members have access to a range of behavior modification-based dynamic exercises, assessments, feedback and educational content to help them set realistic, achievable goals. Progress tracking tools allow members to track calories per day using meal plans and calorie-lookup databases; and exercise including steps, active leisure, aerobic exercise and strength training exercises. Daily weigh-ins encourage members to accustom themselves to normal fluctuations while monitoring the overall trend towards a healthy weight. The moderated online forums connect users with others for encouragement and motivation.

Screeners

Check Your Drinking

Check Your Drinking (CYD) is an anonymous Brief Intervention that has been proven in Randomized Controlled Trials to significantly reduce alcohol consumption among problem drinkers. Participants respond to a series of questions on their alcohol consumption and consequences, and are presented with a comprehensive Final Report.

The Final Report offers feedback in plain, nonjudgmental and motivational language. It assesses risk and uses an algorithm to help the user understand how their alcohol use affects their life, work, weight and finances, and offers strategies for harm reduction. Watch what senior scientist John Cunningham, from CAMH has to say about the Check Your Drinking screener.

Check Your Drinking University

Check Your Drinking University (CYD-U) is based on the identical principles and years of research as CYD, but the tone and content of the feedback is designed for a younger college or university age group. Academic Institutions use CYD-U as a learning and prevention module for students as well as a mechanism for remedial education. 

After completing the questionnaire, students receive their personalized Final Report. Participants are presented with non-judgmental normative feedback on how their drinking compares specifically to other students of their age and gender, plus tailored information on how their drinking affects their health, finances and weight. In addition, students receive tips and suggestions for harm reduction. 

Web-Based Depression and Anxiety Test

The Web-Based Depression and Anxiety Test (WB-DAT) is an anonymous, highly personalized assessment that detects over 30 of the most common mood and anxiety disorders. Smart skip logic allows participants to only answer relevant questions, with the average assessment taking approximately five to ten minutes to complete. The WB-DAT has been validated in a Randomized Controlled Trial in a clinical setting for sensitivity and specificity.

Upon completion, the participant is presented with a detailed Final Report and is encouraged to share the results with his or her healthcare professional. The Final Report clearly summarizes the symptoms presented by the client, as well as the DSM-IV criteria met for professional reference. The WB-DAT can be used as a stand-alone tool for symptom detection or integrated with a more comprehensive mental health campaign.

Check Your Gambling

Check Your Gambling (CYG) is a Brief Intervention offering personalized feedback based on the client’s gambling patterns, gender and age. Personalized feedback is thought to be effective as an intervention because this information can help correct the common normative fallacy held by many problem gamblers that others gamble as much or more than they do.

Upon completion of the assessment, participants receive a Final Report summarizing the type and frequency of gambling; a summary of how their gambling compares to others; how gambling affects their finances; and their Problem Gambling Index score including a plain-language summary of the score's meaning. As well, the Final Report describes the types of gambling cognitions endorsed, which measures the cognitive distortions held about gambling. For each distorted cognition the held (e.g., “I try to figure out what my luckiest numbers are”), suggestions for reframing these beliefs is provided. Finally, users receive suggestions of practical techniques to lower the risk associated with their gambling.

Check Your Smoking

Check Your Smoking (CYS) is a Brief Intervention offering personalized and motivational feedback. CYS is similar in content to the assessments trained physicians would use in a clinical setting. After completing the brief assessment, participants are presented with tailored feedback on how their smoking compares to others, their level of nicotine dependence and readiness to quit.

Feedback is honest and motivational. For example, if smokers indicate they are not ready to quit or not confident in their ability to do so, they are offered strategies for reducing their smoking and beginning to reframe their relationship with cigarettes, and encouraged to check in again in a few weeks to reconsider. Participants have the option of emailing their results to themselves or their healthcare professional.

Check Your Cannabis

Marijuana use is widespread, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Evolution's anonymous Check Your Cannabis (CYC) Brief Intervention supports and informs those who have questions about their marijuana use and how it may be affecting their health and lifestyle. CYC provides non-judgmental, tailored and motivational feedback on the participants’s usage patterns with the goal of reducing harmful behaviors. CYC can be used as a stand-alone tool or as a means of determining whether a participant may benefit from more comprehensive counselling.

Moderated Support Communities

Evolution’s online support communities are an indespensible behavior change tool. Much more than just another social network, they are backed by over a decade of our own research and based on proven theories of behavior change such as Social Learning Theory and Healh Belief Model. The communities contain carefully studied components that increase engagement, success rates and overall morale of program users. 

One aspect that sets Evolution apart from other social networks is our team of Health Educators leading and managing discussion. Each Health Educator is carefully selected to provide the community with a variety of perspectives, educational backgrounds and skills. Health Educators are trained to maintain the five essential elements that make Evolution’s support communities so unique and effective:

1. Empowerment over Advice
Health Educators are trained in coaching and counseling techniques. The focus for the team is not to give advice but to empower members to make their own informed choices. Motivational interviewing and Coaching techniques are applied to get members talking and thinking. Through open discussion members gain skills in communication, problem solving and self motivation.  

2. Positive Environment
In addition to motivating the individual, Health Educators are also trained at motivating the community as a whole. Daily discussions are created to challenge and inform members. Member to member relationships are encouraged by discussion provoking techniques and the numerous networking features available. Negativity, judgment and exclusion are not tolerated on Evolution’s support groups. A sound understanding of group dynamics and online social networking allows Evolution’s Health Educators employ techniques that keep the group focused on positive support. This positive support environment creates a warm atmosphere which fosters optimum growth and success for the members participating. 

3. Program Focus
Content in the online support groups is carefully monitored not only to maintain a positive environment but also to ensure accuracy of information. Health Educators encourage members to express their opinion but when unhealthy or detrimental advice is given messages are carefully edited. In addition, members are always directed back to what works: the program. Sticking to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Transtheoretical principles keeps the group focused on what matters; changing behavior. 

4. Product Focus
For clients in pharmaceuticals, Evolution Health pays particular attention to comments related to adverse events and has established reporting protocols. Health Educators and members share how to comply with product recommendations. Positive discussion related to the product are encouraged and occur often in Evolution’s support group; making the support community not only a positive tool for program engagement, but also an amazing platform for word-of-mouth experiential sharing.  

5. A Wealth of Wisdom
The warm and engaging support communities retain numerous members who have successfully changed their lives. These members have become happier, healthier and more productive due to Evolution‘s programs, support groups and their own hard work. Evolution maintains a vast network of wise, informed and loyal members who stick around to support other members. Their loyalty is incredibly important in maintaining the amazing health network, member program compliance and even product compliance.  

mHealth

Reach individuals wherever they are with personalized mHealth programs. Evolution’s text messaging platform is scalable, customizable, and evidence based. In fact, Evolution was recently awarded the Meritorious New Investigator Award at the 2010 mHealth Summit in recognition of its work with the Canadian Cancer Society.

Core Program

Registration: Users can opt in to the text messaging service via a web-based interface and/or via shortcode. Users can stop the service at any time by texting STOP, or by logging in to their web profile and deactivating the service. 

Content Delivery: Once enrolled, users begin receiving their automated text messages. Text programs can be flat with all users receiving the same series of messages, or they can be dynamic, with algorithms that distribute custom content based on demographics, scheduling, etc. Users also have the option to select the time of day they wish to receive messages.

Each text message is 130 characters or less, and can include content derived from Evolution’s beta programs, or content provided by clients, or a blend of the two.

Dynamic Features

Keywords: In situations that require extra support, users also have the option to send pre-defined keywords to the service and in reply they receive immediate tips, advice and support appropriate to the situation. The service is “smart,” recognizing common misspellings and meanings. If the word or phrase cannot be recognized, the system sends an automated message suggesting known keywords and asks the user to try again. 

Polling: Administrators have the option of polling users. By logging in to the password-protected administrative extranet, the Administrator can create a poll question and select which user groups will receive the question. Poll responses are stored separately, and the results can then be sent to the poll respondents only. 

Special Alerts: Administrators are able to send unscheduled messages to program users, and can select all or some users to receive special messages or tips. For example, some administrators send special messages around holidays or other potentially trigger-rich events such as the Superbowl or holidays. In other cases, if the mHealth service is tied to other services such as online communities, special messages can be sent recognizing member achievements or milestones. 

Administrative Features

All mHealth programs come equipped with a password-protected extranet. Detailed statistics and reporting are available on utilization and demographics, and data can be exported for easy use in statistical analysis software such as SPSS and STATA.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help implement your next mHealth project.

Consulting

Our dedicated, experienced team of experts in web and mobile health behavior change welcomes specialized consulting projects. Leverage Evolution's years of experience in results-driven digital health by taking advantage of existing, validated platform components to make the development and management of your next project run smoothly and cost effectively.

By partnering with Evolution Health, you can focus on aligning your business with the direct needs of your clients, customers or community and allow us to complement your existing efforts with the expertise necessary to complete your project goals.

Research Support

Evolution Health brings research projects to life

Researchers are challenged with the difficult task of staying ahead of the latest developments in technology. Results from research studies on the effectiveness of new and emerging technologies are often obsolete by the time they are published. Researchers often lack access to dedicated, full-service IT developers required to execute their vision of online systems and data collection. Evolution was founded on its relationship with researchers and collaboration on studies designed to advance understanding of how online and mobile-based interventions can be effectively implemented in the real world.

Evolution Health has collaborated with individuals and organizations throughout the world including research scientists, clinicians and doctors. Organizations such as UC Berkeley, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and University of Alberta have worked under grants from funding agencies such as, NIAAA, CDC and Health Canada to integrate our behavioral health programs and research as the basis of their projects.

Evolution Health’s programs can improve efficiency of electronic data capture and management. Internet and mobile technologies allow researchers to reach target groups, specific populations and overcome traditional geographic barriers. Our programs also help reduce costs and errors associated with manual data entry by offering instant access to real time data through a secure and reliable connection. We can customize existing programs; build customized data collection and reporting systems or a combination of the two. Evolution has Federalwide Assurance and our privacy policies have been approved by ethics boards in the US and Canada. This leaves our research partners free to focus on their area of expertise – growing the evidence base – while Evolution manages the technology.