Challenge
The Psychology Department at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), together with Renascent, an accredited addiction treatment centre in Toronto, approached PIVOT to collaborate on the development of an evidence-based app prototype to address addiction in workplaces with unique stress factors. Unusual schedules, limited resources, isolation and workplace culture, often in the service industry, create an environment that encourages the development of addiction while also making it difficult to access effective treatment services.
The team had previously identified a lack of adequate, medically-based and validated addiction apps on the market, in particular for drug addictions. To address this gap in workplace addictions treatment, the app could offer workers confidential support any time of the day, in any location, and connect them with a virtual – and sober – social community. It could also potentially be applied to other industries with similar challenges in the future.