Smartphone app helps to fight addictions
At the doorstep of a lengthy prison sentence, Jill Oomen thought she could beat the rap on drug distribution, possession and forgery charges to go on living her life using methamphetamine.
Oomen’s public defender balked at his 33-year-old client. She had been in and out of incarceration since she was 18. He pushed for Oomen to enter Women in Recovery, a comprehensive and intensive 18-month rehabilitation program for female substance abusers.
Now 36, Oomen is living clean as a cosmetologist a year after her graduation from the program. She has help available 24/7 through a smartphone app that provides continuing-care services from Women in Recovery.
Users can connect with other graduates, pull up motivational reminders, find support groups, listen to inspirational talks, self-evaluate through regular surveys, or obtain immediate help. Women in Recovery staff tout its benefits as a safety net and a way to create “touch points” with graduates to keep them engaged in their recoveries.
“You’re in this bubble — the Women in Recovery bubble — now all of a sudden you’re back in the real world and don’t have all those things hanging over your head,” Oomen said. “And even though you’re not there, you have that access (with the app) all the time.”
The app is called A-CHESS, which stands for Addiction Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System. The system was developed through research by addiction expert Dr. David H. Gustafson.
A-CHESS began as a Women in Recovery pilot project in March 2016 through a grant from the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Clients received the app two months later. Now, 164 women have it.
High-risk alarm, surveys
Ashley Knapp, a continuing-care case manager, emphasized that Women in Recovery is special because it continues routine contact with those who finish rehabilitation.
The app addresses a variety of those continuing recovery needs.
For example, it features a high-risk location alarm function that goes off if a person gets too close to a casino or drug house they used to frequent. The app will open the woman’s designated motivation, such as a prerecorded video of her kids saying, “I love you” or a photo of her pets or garden she takes pride in.
Knapp said when she explains that function to clients, the women often tear up, "actually feeling really emotional about how excited they are and how well-supported they feel with this.”
Oomen removed the app from her phone for a brief period but now says she intends to keep it for life.
She finds value in how it prompts her to reevaluate areas of her life if necessary.
A daily yes-or-no question asks Oomen each morning: “Are you confident you can make it through the day?”
A weekly survey asks her to rate her sleep patterns, family and friend relationships, her urges to drink or use, level of anxiety or depression and other indicators of stressors that could compound and trigger a relapse.
If someone responds to the daily question that they aren’t confident of making it through the day, Women in Recovery staff are alerted and will reach out.
“It’s really easy to just get caught up in everyday life,” Oomen said. “You go through the emotions, you go to work, you do this, you do that, but sometimes we forget to stop and just kind of check in with ourselves and make sure that we’re still on the right track.”
A “beacon button” is available for women in a crisis, immediately eliciting a phone call of someone offering help.
Comfort, immediacy
Mimi Tarrasch, executive senior program director, said Women in Recovery received all 150 lifetime licenses available for Oklahoma as part of the pilot project.
Staff were so enamored with the app and its success that they wrote a follow-up grant, which was OK’d by Family & Children’s Services to outfit another group of graduates. Tarrasch said Chess Health, the technology developer, is giving Women In Recovery a rate of $96 per lifetime license.
“There’s a sense of comfort and a sense of immediacy (with the app),” Tarrasch said.
Tarrasch said they intend to continue applying for grants in an effort to gift each graduate with lifetime access to the app.
The app also allows Women in Recovery, a Tulsa-based arm of Family & Children’s Services, to track statistics to gauge success and how better to serve clients.
According to Women in Recovery, 79 percent of graduates maintain contact with staff or attend continuing-care events for at least one year after completing the program. Additionally:
• 73 percent are employed for at least six months after graduation.
• 99 percent avoid new felony charges for one year after graduation.
• 91 percent who relapsed within a year of graduation and received Women in Recovery treatment services have avoided incarceration.
Women in Recovery isn’t just for those who have been in prison. About three-fourths of the participants haven’t been to prison.
But the recovery program keys in on the risky behavior of substance abuse that is more likely to land a woman in prison. Oklahoma is No. 1 in the nation for female incarceration rate, at more than double the national average, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics.
‘Constant reminder’
Oomen can’t find enough positive words about Women in Recovery, saying she’s “blown away” by its after-care work.
Oomen has never needed the A-CHESS app’s “beacon button” nor relapsed, she said.
But she uses the group chat functions and has reached out to other graduates who posted about a rough patch and needed support.
Oomen remains plugged in by attending weekly group therapy sessions and monthly alumni events and participating in a mentor program.
“I think it’s nice to have a constant reminder every day that I am in recovery,” Oomen said in reference to the app. “And even though life may be good, and I get up and go to work, I am in recovery.
“And I have to remember that every day.”