A $2.8 million grant has been given to a University of Wisconsin research group to develop a “smart phone” aimed at helping prevent recovering alcoholics from relapse.

UW’s Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies was awarded the grant by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

CHESS researcher Fiona McTavish said the cell phone would be developed to offer around-the-clock access to support recovering alcoholics from various outlets.

“They can have a virtual counselor available, there for whenever they need it,” McTavish said. “It’s using technology at its best to help people in a time of need, in a time to stay clean.”

The phone will be given to alcoholics after finishing treatment, and McTavish said the hope is that the device will improve rates of relapse among the group.

Beyond offering support, the phone may also allow users to activate GPS to warn users when they are approaching areas they don’t think they should, like bars they used to frequent.

The grant will be divvied out over a period of five years. After the smart phone has been developed, its effectiveness will be evaluated in a study with 280 alcoholism patients from treatment centers in Peoria, Ill., and Boston.

CHESS’ main investigator David Gustafson said the project will focus on a more computer-based model of treatment versus other aftercare programs, which can be difficult to keep up with due to cost and time constraints.

“Our primary hypothesis is that [the project] will improve competence, relatedness and autonomy, which will reduce the days of risky drinking over a 12-month period,” Gustafson said in a statement.

This is the second largest grant CHESS has announced this month. The patient research group received a five-year, $8.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research transmission of information from doctors to patients via the Internet Nov. 3.

McTavish said CHESS is one of the most prominent research groups studying Internet technology in relation to patients.

“CHESS is definitely on the leading edge,” McTavish said. “We’re really excited; we’re glad that we can continue to do the research and get the support of the university and the NIH and NIAAA.”