Wada Wanti is an innovative, evidence-based web application, sponsored by the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) as part of a larger project to better understand and address the need for interventions relating to methamphetamine use in Aboriginal communities.

The early findings from the wider project suggest that access to health services doesn’t match self-reported need, and other factors including stigma, shame and lack of culturally appropriate services act as barriers.

The Wada Wanti app is designed to provide an alternative support option for people in the community who need it. 

Wada wanti, translated in English, means “Leave the ice alone”.  

It is based on evidence-based therapeutic approaches, including CBT and motivational interviewing, and strongly informed by both cultural advice and lived experience input from Aboriginal people.   

How does the app work?

The app is made up of 7 modules that support participants to:

• Identify changes they want to make to their use
• Learn about cravings and analyse how they are impacted by cravings
• Identify high-risk situations and make a plan to cope with them
• Identify learning opportunities from unintended use
• Identify important values and set goals to help them align their life with their values.  

Our video abstract

Supported by an NCCRED Scholarship, First Nations filmmaker Jason Ramp documented the implementation of the app at Healing Circle, on Nauo and Barngala Country in Port Lincoln, South Australia.   

Watch the video: 

The National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs is made up of a consortium of the following four institutions