Rheine. Together with Mayor Dr. Peter Lüttmann, Alderman Raimund Gausmann and Stefan Jüttner-von der Gathen (strategic youth welfare office management), Jacqueline Raade (network coordinator at the city’s youth welfare office Rheine) presented the new family app today.
Raade had been working for months on the question of how to provide better support for families in Rheine. For example, how can important information for parents and their children be made even more accessible? The results of her work are impressive: The city’s new family app Rheine.
“With the help of specially acquired funding from the state, we have set up an innovative project and developed a significant improvement on the previous Early Help Parents’ Guide,” says Raimund Gausmann, the responsible alderman, explaining the background to the app development.
But what makes this app so special?
The city of Rheine has created a digital platform aimed at pregnant women and families with children up to and including the age of three. The objective goes beyond simply providing information. It is about realizing a vision for children and young people to grow up in Rheine with equal opportunities and success.
As Jüttner-von der Gathen and Raade explain, “the family app for Rheine has succeeded in integrating a wealth of innovative functions aimed at supporting families in all aspects of their lives”. For example, the app allows parents to enter their child’s date of birth in order to receive age-specific reminders and offers based on this. This function provides individual support as the children grow up. An integrated checklist with reminder function also makes it easier for families to keep track of important appointments such as U examinations and applications for maternity and parental allowance. Push notifications then inform parents in good time so that they don’t miss any relevant events.
In addition, the interactive area map with a navigation function offers a wealth of information on changing, feeding and breastfeeding facilities. It also lists playgrounds and daycare centers in Rheine as well as other leisure activities and pediatricians. As Mayor Dr. Lüttmann summarizes when taking a look at the new app, this is an extremely good way to “give families quick and easy access to relevant facilities and services”.
In an emergency, the app also provides an immediate overview of the most important numbers, including the police, emergency services, fire department, poison control center and many more. The new online service also provides comprehensive information on care options, advice services, interesting facts, questions about financial support and health issues. In addition, leisure activities and events are bundled together at Rheine, turning the app into a comprehensive calendar of events and giving families an overview of what is on offer locally.
The app also places particular emphasis on accessibility. With a wide selection of languages, including German, easy language, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian and English, the app takes into account the different needs of the population.
With its wide range of functions, the family app offers a comprehensive range of information and support. As Mayor Dr. Lüttmann sums up, it is a “great initiative to drive forward the digital development of the city of Rheine and provide a clear impetus for modern and up-to-date information for families in our city”.
It was important to all those involved that the app is continuously developed further. An expansion is already planned for the end of 2023/2024 in order to offer families in Rheine an even better range of services beyond the age of three. The first services from the age of 4 have already been added to the app: https:// Rheine.familien-apps.de.