U.S. veterans returning from war zones are facing great difficulties during the reintegration process. They experience trauma and posttraumatic symptoms, 49% of them report problems with community activities participation, 42% find it difficult to reunite with partners, and 25% have issues at work. Other identified problems are difficulties with anger management, dangerous driving, domestic violence, and other legal issues. Dryhootch is a veteran-led community organization that provides an informal network of peer-mentor support for fresh veterans by veterans who went through difficulties in the past. This organization, however, works with old-fashioned paper-based methods, which cannot provide appropriate help.
Researchers Rizwana Rizia, Nadiyah Johnson, A.B.M.K. Patwary, G.M.T. Ahsan, S.I.Ahamed, Zeno Franco, Katinka Hooyer, Bob Curry and Mark Flower introduced a new, mobile-based peer-mentor support system for veterans at CollaborateCom 2014 . They use mobile-based applications for mentors and mentees to stay connected and update important information anytime. During the development process, the research team cooperated tightly with the veterans. This was necessary, as it is a very specific group of people with special needs, low frustration tolerance and high portion of suspiciousness towards electronics. The cooperation was succesful and the veterans contributed their own ideas. From them, the researchers have learnt about the importance of personalized care and attention, even in technology-based systems
Read the whole paper here.
