A new smartphone app is being developed to help UK veterans find the services they need; whether that's health services, jobs or housing.

The app is being developed by a partnership between Northumbria University, Newcastle's Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research and international software company RippleNami Inc., following a £0.5m grant by the Ministry of Defence.
The first of its kind in the UK, the app will provide a comprehensive interactive map of all veteran services across the UK.

The UK has nearly three million veterans. The app will provide them with the locations of hospitals, substance abuse clinics and how to access education, financial assistance, employment assistance, housing and shelters.

The app is currently being used and promoted by frontline NHS staff before being offered widely to former UK service men and women. It is easy to use and has been created by international cloud-based software provider RippleNami. It will also be used by frontline staff in local authorities, housing providers and charities as well as by veterans themselves and their families. A 24-hour helpline for those who can't or don't want to use the app is also available.

As well as providing veterans with a much-needed interactive map of all veteran services, the app will help those providing services ensure they are the services they want and need. The app will collect intelligence about the types of services veterans are searching for and using.

Dr Matt Kiernan, Associate Professor of Mental Health and Veteran Studies at Northumbria University and a former Lieutenant Commander in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, said: "The app takes a radically different approach to the way we provide information about help to veterans and inform providers of the services what they need. It is based on insightful research and hard data, and  offers the 2.3 million UK veterans, of all ages and circumstances, a single and stigma-free way to access much needed services and community support.

"Our veterans face many different problems; mental health, depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance abuse, PTSD, housing, employment, or simply how to adjust to civilian life when they leave the forces. Help is currently available but, with more than 3,000 charitable bodies and all the NHS Trusts providing different types of help, it is uncoordinated, unfocused and can seem utterly bewildering. At the same time, there is no national database of veterans, so understanding where veterans are, what they need and how to reach them has been virtually impossible. This new app will seek to address this by stripping down the sources of help to an easily-accessible one-stop-shop.”

www.northumbria.ac.uk