Veterans Affairs mobile app for PTSD sufferers hasn't been updated since 2013

Dubbed 'PTSD Coach Canada,' the free app -- initially announced as a test in February -- provides users with information on PTSD, self-assessment for symptoms, information about professional health care, and where to find support.

A smartphone app aimed at assisting Canadian veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder has not been updated since it was launched by the Conservative government in 2013.

The PTSD Coach Canada app was officially launched by then-Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney in May 2013. According to the Veterans Affairs Canada website, the free mobile application is intended to “help veterans learn and manage symptoms that can occur after trauma.”

The app provides information on PTSD, tools on how to manage its symptoms, a self-assessment feature and material on how to seek professional support. The customizable app had been adapted from an American version developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defence and is available to Apple and Android devices.

A visit to the PTSD Coach Canada description page on the app store shows that it has only undergone three updates since its creation and all of those improvements occurred in 2013. An attempt to download the app on an iPhone prompted a pop-up message to appear, which read: “‘PTSD Coach’ may slow down your iPhone. The developer of this app needs to update it to improve its compatibility.”

One Canadian veteran, who wished to remain anonymous, told CTV News’ Richard Madan that the neglect towards the mobile app points to a larger problem within the government.

“It symbolizes everything that’s wrong with Veterans Affairs,” the veteran said. “It’s that they do something, they put something up there, but they don’t monitor it. They don’t update it. They just throw it out there.”

In an email to CTVNews.ca, a spokesperson for Veterans Affairs said they were in talks to update the app.

“Veterans Affairs Canada has recently been in contact with the U.S. creator of the app and is currently in discussion with Canadian collaborators on the PTSD Coach Canada App on the subject of updating the PTSD Coach Canada mobile application,” Marc Lescoutre said.

He later added that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing a new version of the app, which will include a recent change to the diagnostic criteria for PTSD used by mental health professionals.

“They have recently shared their coding with (Veterans Affairs), at our request, so that the Canadian version can be updated when theirs is,” he said.

The U.S. version of PTSD Coach was updated Nov. 13, 2015, according to the version history listed in the Apple Store.

But Lescoutre said that all updates to the U.S. app since 2013 were for “bug fixes and to address compatibility issues.”

“We have contacted the contractor who developed the Canadian app and have requested the same compatibility updates be issued ASAP,”  he said.

Complaints about the outdated app come during a period of increased scrutiny of the government’s service standards for veterans in the aftermath of a murder-suicide in Nova Scotia last week. Lionel Desmond, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan and suffered from PTSD, shot his wife, mother and 10-year-old daughter before killing himself.

In the wake of the tragedy, Gary Walbourne, ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, urged the Liberal government on Wednesday to improve veterans’ and current soldiers’ access to services and benefits. He suggested that the system needs to be fixed and that it’s unfair to keep members and their families waiting for these changes.

The Liberal government campaigned on a promise to spend an additional $300 million a year to improve benefits and support for veterans, including hiring 400 front-line workers at Veterans Affairs Canada.

The 2016 Budget allocated $5.6 billion over six years for increased benefits for Canadian veterans; however reinstating lifetime pensions was notably absent from the plan. As for new staff members, the

Veterans Affairs website states that approximately 330 new workers have been hired across the country and that that number will “continue to grow to 400 in total.”

With files from The Canadian Press