Getting Results in Transition, or better known as GRIT, was developed in response to the growing concern about the rate of suicide among Veterans, especially during the transition from activity duty to civilian life.

Social determinants, like health, employment, housing, social connectedness, and finance all play a large role in Veterans’ mental and physical health. Active Duty service members report that finding a job once leaving military service is their number one concern.

IBM designed the GRIT mobile solution to help service members, National Guard members, reservists, Veterans, care givers and their families gain personal insight into their emotional well-being. It provides resources to improve their individual situations, and serve as a tool to build resiliency and overall well-being. The first-use case incorporated into the GRIT app today is Employment, with a feature that provides personalized job matching.

According to Nextgov, Total Brain CEO Louis Gagnon said the app uses neuro-scientific tests that can be done in less than 20 minutes to assess brain function and evaluate how users are doing across their emotions, feelings, cognition and self control. It offers gamified exercises to boost memory, focus, planning and positivity.  These exercises are custom-tailored to improve individual users’ specific weak areas, and includes built in scientific screening tests for depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia and sleep apnea. 

GRIT is conducting a field test to give service members, reservists, and Veterans early access to the app. In this real life setting, users evaluate the experience, the usefulness of the app, and collect feedback for improvements. It is looking to find between 500-1000 Active Duty, Active Reservist or National Guard members, or recently transitioned Veterans who would like to participate in the field test. It also encourages family members and care givers to participate. GRIT has identified the following characteristics for the participants:

  • Lives within one of the following geographic locations –
    • California
    • Florida
    • New York
    • Washington D.C.
    • Texas
    • Pennsylvania
    • Ohio
  • Currently in need of a job, looking for a job change, under-employed, or about to transition out of military service and looking for a job.
  • Interested in any employment or specifically in one of the five Industries: IT, Engineering, Business Management, Construction, Logistics.
  • Owns iOS or Android phone.

To access the GRIT app:

iPhone users:
  1. Register to participate
  2. Invitations to receive the GRIT app consist of two emails. You need both emails to download the GRIT app.
  3. The first email will come from grit@us.ibm.com and will contain a link to the Apple App store where you can download the free Apple TestFlight app. This app is required to access the GRIT app while it is still being tested.
  4. The second invitation email will come from Apple TestFlight. You will need to click the link to access and download the GRIT app from within Test Flight.
Android users:
  1. Register to participate
  2. The invitation email will come from grit@us.ibm.com and will contain a link to agree to participate in the field test.
  3. Once you have agreed to participate, follow the link to download the GRIT app from the Google Play Store.

The GRIT field test runs until November 8.

To learn about how GRIT can assist you, visit Getting Results in Transition or call their help desk at 1-888-971-9770.

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10 Comments

  1. Jameel Matin September 18, 2019 at 23:45

    Who is the founder of Grit?

  2. Dennis Egan September 12, 2019 at 10:09

    Have been treated for Depression, Ptsd & sleep Apnea.
    I am still in a career position (civilian) & need to try & improve my memory.

  3. Dennis Egan September 12, 2019 at 10:01

    Is this available for retired seniors?
    Are any New England states offering this?

    Thank you
    Dennis Egan RI Air Nat’l Guard Ret.

  4. Bryan Hyland September 12, 2019 at 09:11

    Could you please expand it out to veterans in the Greater Seattle area. I’ve been looking for a job since I was medically retired in 2017. If you don’t have a Bachelor’s Degree here, you don’t have a job in the tech industry.

  5. GARY HARTMAN September 12, 2019 at 04:14

    I’m a combat veteran interested in GRIT:
    – Age 69, currently unemployed, and will help.
    – High tech experience in Vietnam 1969-1970.
    – Project Left Bank with ASA.
    – Lead to 21 years with Intel.
    – Wrote IBM PC BIOS firmware in 1979.
    – Wrote XPS-150 supercomputer firmware in 1990.
    – Wrote chois code that hit 75G FLOP. in 1992.
    – Retired from Intel at ORNL in Y2K at age 50.
    – Intel left supercomputer business so I left them.

  6. Micheal Levandoski September 11, 2019 at 22:51

    This sounds like a great option for current miltsoand “recently departed” veterans. I am a veteran currently at 70% disabled and I work a full time job because I have too. My va doctor thinks I should put in for 100% because of what we have talked about. The problem is i was told you have to be unemployed to given a 100% rating. I will be honest with you I hate being around people. It really stresses me out and causes issues with my home life. I can’t afdord to stop working but that is the only way to be considered for. 100% rating. Is there anything out there that can help me.

  7. Michael c perry September 11, 2019 at 22:18

    I’ve been out of the Air Force for several years and recently diagnosed withTBI. I was wandering if this program could work for me. Pleas let me know.

  8. robert benoit September 11, 2019 at 21:48

    I am a disable veteran with 2 masters degrees in public policy and urban planning /GIS seeking employment. Please Help!

  9. Richard Anthony Souza September 11, 2019 at 20:29

    Can I also apply if I live in Michigan please?

    • Aaron Henle September 12, 2019 at 21:06

      I live in Alaska and have been able to sign up for the field test. So far, Im seeing this app as being a great tool for transitioning vets as well as currently serving or retired vets. With that being said, it will definitely still fall on the individual to make using the app a habit for its cognitive therapy.

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