The Lighthouse Health & Wellness app was designed to bring vital health information to first responders nationwide, conveniently accessible via their mobile devices. While some agencies may provide cell phones to their staff and have the capability to preload the app on the device, many do not, and rely on their staff to take the initiative to download and log into the app themselves.

Mental Health Stigma

While we at Lighthouse strive to help break down stigmas around mental health and champion the value of getting help when needed, there is work still to be done in this area. It is possible that some people may feel they “don’t need help with mental health,” and dismiss the app as having a low value to them. Unfortunately, this means they miss out on valuable resources and content, and also don’t have the app at their fingertips at a time in the future that they may indeed benefit from mental health resources.

Sharing About the Wide Variety of Health Content

We want to encourage peer support leaders and other management to consider their approach when talking about the Lighthouse apps, in order to present a full picture of the range of content available on the apps. Lighthouse Health & Wellness topics cover nutrition, physical exercise, COVID-19, parenting, financial planning, finding a doctor as an FR, injury reduction tips, and more. By piquing interest in these other topics, first responders may better understand the app’s value and be more interested in downloading and checking it out.

Adding Custom Content to Your App

In addition to the existing resources available in the Lighthouse content library, more resources can be added to your custom app that are tailored to your agency’s unique needs. Recently, Roanoake County added material on physical fitness to their app that engaged their employees and encouraged a significant increase in app downloads.

We know mental and physical health are equally important, and intrinsically linked. We want to do everything we can to help first responders not just survive, but thrive.