Research School of Population Health Seminar Series

Worldwide, the use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs kills nearly seven million people every year. In Australia, it is estimated that the overall cost to society of the use of these substances is about $70 billion per year.

There are already effective psychological and pharmacological treatments available, especially for tobacco and alcohol use. However, face-to-face interventions can reach a small proportion of those who could benefit from them: among those with a substance use diagnosis, only about 11 per cent received treatment in the last year.

The effectiveness of online interventions has been established for some mental health problems (e.g. depression). This presentation will compare the effectiveness of in person with online interventions for substance use problems and look at recent innovations in the field.