At Ease

Prototype of Suicide Prevention app for research purposes

There are between 21-22 military-related deaths each day in the United States. Failure to reach soldiers at risk for suicide in a timely and convenient manner presents a crucial bottleneck in the access to care among those who need it the most at a critical time.

NATURE & PURPOSE: To use a nursing informatics approach to reach at-risk soldiers. “At Ease” is a usability survey that collects ease of use data in the form of a validated questionnaire collected from a convenience sample of users that test a mobile application ("At Ease") written and enabled for Android platform SmartPhones. At present, there is no iPhone or iOS application of this project.

METHODS: Utilizing the principle of ease of use similar to the Life Alert® Medical Alert | LifeAlertHelp.com bracelet, “At Ease” provides intuitive one-click access to the national suicide prevention helpline and other resources, including a user-maintained 'Buddy List'. A prototype simulation of the new app, "At Ease" is distributed using convenience sampling to other Chamberlain College of Nursing MSN students enrolled both from both within and outside of Second Life. After trying the prototype, the users will be invited and directed to a validated Computer Usability questionnaire, the results of which will sent to the primary investigator to use in subsequent research.