Invitation to Tender for research on sociodemographic patterns in the use of the Alcohol Change UK app

We are commissioning a research project to better understand sociodemographic differences in the reach and use of our Try Dry® app. The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 7th October 2024. 

Who uses Try Dry®?

Sociodemographic patterns in the use of the Alcohol Change UK app

One of our primary objectives is to support, digitally, the millions of people who are drinking alcohol at hazardous and harmful levels, and to empower and support them to reduce their own alcohol consumption before they get to the point of alcohol dependency.

We are commissioning a research project to better understand sociodemographic differences in the reach and use of our Try Dry® app.

The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 7th October 2024. 

Background

Try Dry® is Alcohol Change UK’s free app to help people take control of their alcohol consumption. It is a popular app, having been downloaded by over 1 million users to date. Try Dry® offers a non-judgmental digital intervention, in which users define their own goals and are supported to meet them.

The app has been shown to be effective. On average, when first using Try Dry®, people are drinking 35.8 units a week. For users who continue using Try Dry® for six months, this falls to just 5.6 units a week. Using the app benefits the vast majority of regular users, with 85% of people who use Try Dry® for six months seeing their drinking reduced very significantly.

At the same time, we know that there are variations in use of digital health tools among different socioeconomic groups, and there is significant evidence that age, education, unemployment and disability are predictors of digital exclusion.

While there is no doubt that our Behaviour Change programme delivers real, lasting impact for tens of thousands of drinkers, we are concerned to ensure that it reduces, not exacerbates, health inequalities.

This project will use our existing Try Dry® UK postcode data to better describe the sociodemographic patterns in reach and usage levels of the app by mapping this against external consumer profile data and against data sets about UK drinking levels.

The results will give us a better understanding of the current reach and use of the app, in order to decide whether we need to take more assertive action to reach and engage audiences who are currently under-represented in our work; especially our target audience of people who are consuming alcohol hazardously or harmfully.

For more details about the project and how to submit a proposal, please download the invitation to tender below. Questions and clarifications from bidders will be responded to by email and published on this webpage for reference.

The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 7th October 2024. 

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Invitation to Tender for research on sociodemographic patterns in the use of the Alcohol Change UK app

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Total number of records with postcode - The RFP states that the total number of downloads to the app is over 1m. Can you please clarify the total number of postcodes to be mapped? If the exact figure is not available, please specify an appropriate estimate/range (e.g. 750,000 -1,000,000). In addition, are there any records without postcode information that require analysis, or is this out of scope?

At last check this week, roughly 710,000 records. A very small portion of these do not have postcode data. Records without postcode data are out of scope.

Ongoing mapping of records - Is there requirement – either in scope, or in a future phase – where analysis is required for new users of the app, who have joined in the months following the analysis of the original users? For example, new subscriber details could either be submitted for analysis at agreed regular intervals following the completion of this project or analysed via API in real-time. Similarly, is there a requirement for Alcohol Change UK to repeat this exercise, either on an annual basis, or other suitable intervals in the future? Should this, or other details regarding ongoing analysis be considered, perhaps in the section entitled ‘amendments and suggestions?

The current project does not require ongoing mapping of new users following the completion of the project. We welcome any suggestions for ongoing analysis in the ‘amendments and suggestions’ section.

Data categorisation by Alcohol Change UK - Could you please advise of any additional flags/categories added to the postcode data by Alcohol Change UK that could be/will be submitted with the data for the review? This could be non-PII data created by Alcohol Change UK, for example: data on app usage/frequency, a current classification/segmentation description of the user, anonymised flags/notes on alcohol consumption, habits, usage, or similar.

Data categories will be agreed with the research provider. These could include baseline (weekly units and money spent); drinking risk score (AUDIT-C - 0-12), score on each AUDIT-C question (frequency, units per occasion, binge); drinking data entries per day, number of dry / drank /drank as planned/ blank days; age; sex.

Retention of data past initial project - The RFP notes one output as an Excel file containing key data sets produced by the research, for use with own further analysis. How long do Alcohol Change UK plan to retain the data file/use this data? Are you able to advise the type of analysis you plan to undertake?

Alcohol Change UK plans to retain the data set produced for the project for five years from the end of the project. The type of further analysis we undertake would depend on the findings from the project. Any further analysis carried out would have the aim of understanding and improving the sociodemographic reach of Try Dry.

Use for media targeting Outside of the outputs listed in 3.4. (publishing and sharing of the report, online video usage), - could you please advise if the outputs will also be used for additional marketing, user outreach, media targeting or similar? If so, could you provide a summary of activities/plans to use the data in this way? Could you please also advise if this will be shared with any Media Agencies, and if so, are you please able to share the names of any agencies involved?

We anticipate the findings being of interest to Local Authorities and those involved in commissioning and recommending digital health interventions. We plan to use the outputs in our work with these groups. We plan to use the findings to inform our marketing and communication strategy, particularly if the analysis suggests that more work is needed to reach particular sociodemographic groups. If there are interesting results, we may want to include some findings in media work connected to Try Dry.

Selection Criteria - How are the selection criteria weighted in the decision-making process? Are some criteria more critical than others? Please advise of any additional considerations that are important.

The selection panel review bids against the selection criteria listed in the ITT, considering the project in the round against the criteria and the overall aims and purpose of the project for the charity.

Will any usage data be available? (Downloaded app, date of download, whether they have engaged any further with the app and the type of engagement with the app)

Data categories will be agreed with the research provider. These could include baseline (weekly units and money spent); drinking risk score (AUDIT-C - 0-12), score on each AUDIT-C question (frequency, units per occasion, binge); drinking data entries per day, number of dry / drank /drank as planned/ blank days; age; sex. We don’t have download date but do have date/time of sign-up.

Would we be able to access a copy of the marketing plan executed so far (to carry out a marketing audit as part of the package)

We are not able to give you our detailed marketing plan for Try Dry. Currently Try Dry is marketed across our website, owned social media channels, Google search ads and paid Meta ads during the Dry January period.

If interested and available within budget, would you be interested in us conducting a focus group on usage of the app to help you understand whether there are any functional barriers to usage?

We are happy to hear proposals for amendments to the suggested methodology. Please include this in a section titled ‘amendments and suggestions’.