Colleen Hilton, founder and & CEO of Alli Connect, gave a presentation to the committee regarding the company’s app that can provide digital mental heath services to first responders.
Hilton told the committee that first responders are notoriously hesitant to seek mental help because of trust and privacy reasons and because they have traditionally thought they should be immune to such issues.
She also explained that most mental health programs are reactive, in that if a first responder is seeking help — and usually by that time they’ve got a major problem — the first responder has to find it on their own.
That process doesn’t provide data insights and doesn’t make customized recommendations for an individual first responder based on their specific needs.
Hilton told members that she hopes Alli Connect’s app can change that by treating first responders quickly, before a mental health crisis occurs, while protecting user privacy.
Hilton explained that this AI-powered wellness solution helps to match a first responder with a counselor based on needs and specialization. The platform is both mobile and web-based.
Alli Connect began serving emergency response agencies in Washington state and has recently expanded into Texas, Illinois and Alabama.
Hilton, a licensed therapist for over 20 years, explained the technology.
“It not only takes a proactive approach for the individual, but also streamlines the process of getting them to the correct care in a timely manner, and really leaning on tech and AI, machine learning to do that, so we really have a scalable, accurate solution,” Hilton said.
The key to the Alli Connect service is early detection, and one of the barriers to early detection is confidentiality and privacy.
“So we know through our tech that everything is private,” Hilton said. “We provide them with the tools where they can do their own self-assessment and understand wellness and resilience from a baseline and track that over time so we’re not waiting for a crisis to happen.”
Lawmakers expressed optimism about this technology and were hopeful that West Virginia could utilize it in the future. According to data provided, the state has lost first responders by suicide in each of the last five years.
