Program Reviews

Vorvida

Program Overview

Vorvida is a Web-based intervention for adults with problematic alcohol use.

Vorvida tailors intervention content to identified needs and characteristics of end-users. Vorvida consists of 4 modules: individual drinking patterns, managing alcohol cravings, dealing with high-risk situations, and coping with slips and relapses. Content includes established, evidence-based techniques: motivational interviewing, goal-setting, self-monitoring of symptoms, cognitive behavioral therapy strategies, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, mental imagery, and homework exercises. Each module presents intervention content via text or audio recording. Users progress through modules by responding to text/audio content by selecting responses from a menu of predetermined options. Vorvida tailors subsequent module content to user response selections, creating a simulated dialogue between Vorvida and the user. Users choose the order of modules and engage with Vorvida at a self-determined pace. Vorvida also includes two separate brief questionnaires: a daily mood-check and a weekly review of alcohol consumption. Questionnaires provide customized feedback based on user responses.

Link to commercial site here.

Delivery:
Web-based

Theoretical Approach(es):
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Motivational Interviewing
Mindfulness

Target Substance(s):
Alcohol

Target Outcome(s):
Reduced alcohol consumption
Abstinence

Ages:
Young Adults (18-30)
Adults (30+)

Genders:
Female
Male

Races/Ethnicities:
Unspecified

Setting(s):
Remote Access
Online

Geographic Location(s):
North America
Europe

Country:
United States
Germany
Switzerland

Language:
English
German

Evaluations

  • Zill J, Christalle E, Meyer B, Härter M, Dirmaier J. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. 2019. 116(8): 127–133. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2019.0127

    Summary: Researchers recruited 608 adults with problematic alcohol use to participate in a randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of Vorvida in reducing alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and drunkenness. Recruitment occurred through health insurance companies, care providers, newspaper ads, internet forums, and e-mental health portals. Researchers randomized participants to receive access to Vorvida for 6 months (n = 306) or Usual Care (n = 302). Intervention participants received a link to the Web-based Vorvida program, which participants accessed via internet browser on a personal computer or smartphone. All participants completed assessments of past-week and past-month alcohol consumption and drinking behavior at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Vorvida demonstrated significant effects on participant daily alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and drunkenness at 3 months, compared with Usual Care. At 3 months, Vorvida participants had significantly greater reductions in daily alcohol consumption than participants in Usual Care (38.7 g/day versus 49.0g/day). At 6 months, Vorvida participants maintained significant reductions in daily alcohol consumption relative to Usual Care participants (29.6g/day versus 40.7g/day), while binge drinking and drunkenness continued to decrease significantly among Vorvida participants. Compared with Usual Care participants, Vorvida participants consumed about 11g less alcohol per day, had about 10 fewer binge drinking days per month, and reported almost 3 fewer episodes of past-month drunkenness at 6 months. Almost all intervention participants would recommend Vorvida to a friend (94%), would use Vorvida again (92%), and agreed that Vorvida offered their preferred type of treatment (90%).

    Take away: Vorvida demonstrated preliminary efficacy in reducing alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and drunkenness among adults with problematic alcohol use. Future research could assess whether Vorvida facilitates long-term reduction of alcohol use.

  • Vorvida: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of Internet-based self-help program for the reduction of alcohol consumption for adults. Zill J, Meyer B, Topp J, et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2016. 16(1): 19. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0725-9