Mobile Phone App Launched to Help Support UK Veterans
A new mobile phone app, developed by Northumbria University’s Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research and the US tech firm RippleNami, Inc., has been launched to help support veterans across the UK.
The Veterans’ Gateway, a 24-hour service for veterans’ support, has been funded by the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces Covenant TrustFund.
The first of its kind in the UK, the Veterans’ Gateway app provides a comprehensive interactive digital directory of all services available for almost three million veterans across the country.
Watch video report HERE
The interactive app provides veterans with the locations of local hospitals, substance abuse clinics and details of how to access education, financial assistance, employment support, housing and shelters. It includes a recently added layer of support for those facing new challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Researchers say the app has been designed to draw anonymised geolocation data on what users are searching for, to help to identify particular issues that may be faced within different regions. This data will be used as evidence to show government where funding needs to be invested to improve services for veterans.
The mobile application works on the principle of four clicks of a button and you’re leaving the application and getting the help that you need. We look at data from multiple sources of service usage and of this search history and from that we actually look at predicting what services are going to be required in what areas, in what sort of numbers and then that then helps the government and helps the major charities plan their services. DR. MATT KEIRNAN LT CDR (RN, RET’D), NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY
The new app builds on the success of the Veterans’ Gateway online directory, which groups together all NHS facilities and over 2,000 charitable organisations across the country, allowing veterans and their families to access local support as and when it is needed.
Since being set up in 2017, Veterans’ Gateway has received over 47,000 calls and has signposted ex-forces personnel and their families to the wide range of support available to them.