CBT-i Coach app

CBT-i Coach app is designed in collaboration with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), so it is aimed mainly at supporting veterans and military service members who are receiving treatment for insomnia. However, most of the information and recommendations are quite general, and can be helpful to anyone having sleep difficulties. The developers recommend that this app be used together with a health care provider. The app is divided into 4 main sections:

• My Sleep: this section has questions and assessments that enable the user to get a better idea of their sleep habits and together with their health care provider, can ascertain if they have a sleep problem. After completing 5 sleep day diary entries, the user is given an individualised sleep prescription.  
• Tools: this section has various tools to improve sleep habits. For example, users are offered suggestions on how to incorporate positive behaviours into their night-time routine, and given a variety of relaxation and mindfulness techniques to help ease into sleep including audio and visual exercises to help settle the mind.    
• Learn: provides users with information to get a better understanding of sleep and sleep problems. This section also has a basic glossary that explains the meaning of complex terms around insomnia.  
• Reminders: this section has various reminders to encourage you to use the tools in the app and to help you keep a healthy sleep schedule. 

For a more detailed description of the app, see Google Play(external link) or iTunes(external link) and for a detailed review, see reviews below.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Kris Garstang, Clinical Psychologist, Life Mind Psychology
Date of review: April 2022
Version: 2.4
Platform: Android
Comments: CBT-i Coach app designed in collaboration with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support veterans and others who are receiving treatment for insomnia. Overall, this is a great app for helping people to get a better night’s sleep. The diary function and daily sleep prescription works really well for helping people select a regular schedule for their sleep and the education and information on sleep hygiene all matches the advice that someone might get when they go to see a professional about their sleep. There is also a great selection of relaxation audio tracks for people to try out. The 'Prevent Insomnia in the Future' tab provides a great checklist of all the things that negatively impact people’s sleep. As with other US Veteran’s Affairs apps, this app is based on a solid, evidenced based approach with helpful advice and tools despite it being developed for a specific population.
Safety concerns: No, but emergency and other help numbers provided are all US based and not useful for New Zealanders.
New Zealand relevance: Contacts provided are all for US users. Much content if specifically targeted towards US veterans.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Jeremy Steinberg, GP, FRNZCGP
Date of review: March 2018
Comments: This app is most useful for people with insomnia, especially as a tool to use alongside seeing a professional that is trained in treating insomnia. This app, which has had extensive input from medical professionals, follows many evidence based approaches to the treatment of insomnia such as sleep education, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioural approaches, and sleep restriction. It has many features such as a sleep diary with graphing, algorithmic setting and adjusting of sleep/wake times based on diary and sleep questionnaire data, audio-visual guided relaxation tools and a multitude of reminders.
The user interface and design appears to be difficult to use and navigate, and the data exporting function does not appear to be working. Despite this, I still think this is a very high-quality app and could see many people getting a lot of benefit out of it even if they are not seeing an insomnia treatment professional. 
Safety concerns: None, but emergency and other help numbers provided are all US based and not useful for New Zealanders.
New Zealand relevance: Relevant to New Zealanders but contacts provided are all for US users. Much content if specifically targeted towards US veterans.