Useful Smartphone Applications for Caregivers

With technology constantly advancing, there are now smartphone applications that can be used for almost anything and caregiving is no exception. Technology can be very helpful when it comes to caring for an elderly loved one, especially if you are informed about all the elder care applications available. On that note, here’s a list of some caregiving and elder care applications on the market.

• Caring Village : Caring village is a free app designed specifically for family caregivers that allows you to easily keep track of and coordinate your loved one’s care. This app includes personalized to do lists, customizable care plans, a centralized calendar, a medication list, space for document storage, a wellness journal, secure messaging and a preparedness checklist. Each “village” created through this app focuses on a specific individual that needs care and anyone involved in this individual’s care can be invited to join their village. All the members that are approved to join someone’s village can get access to care plans, scheduling and other features of the app. Caring Village is a way to connect individuals who are involved in the care of a loved one and to keep them all informed regarding an individual’s care.

• Elder 911 and Elder 411: Elder 911 and Elder 411 are actually two different apps that were developed by the same company. Elder 911 provides information regarding what to do in an emergency situation involving an elderly person. This app includes a “crisis timeline” that you can use to navigate the different stages of a medical emergency involving an elderly loved one. It also includes tips regarding how to react to medical emergencies, interactive checklists to keep you on track and audio introductions to help prepare you for each crisis stage. Elder 411, on the other hand, provides over 500 pieces of advice organized into 11 eldercare topics to give you solutions to an array of caregiving problems. This app is fully searchable and includes written and audio tips as well as video lectures.

• eCare 21: ECare21 is a remote patient monitoring app that allows you to monitor an elderly individual through a variety of non-intrusive wireless devices. This app has the ability to monitor and track glucose levels, physical activity, heart rate, weight, calorie intake, medication adherence and sleep, among other things. This helps to reduce the risk of hospitalization and emergency care in elderly individuals. In addition to its monitoring services, eCare 21 also offers a care plan that can be managed through the app, medication reminders and even a competitive feature where you can compare your health to those of your friends who also use the app. This app can help bring peace of mind to caregivers and their patients or loved ones, while also tracking an individual’s health and wellness.

• iPharmacy Pro: iPharmacy Pro provides information regarding prescription medications. It has a pill identifier tool that you can use to accurately identify any medication that your loved one may be taking. Once the medication is identified, iPharmacy Pro will provide a detailed description of the drug, a drug picture and any images in their Drug Database. This app can also be used to search for drug side effects, and can give information regarding a drug’s potential interactions with other medications. This app may be useful to a caregiver that assists an individual who has to take a multitude of medications or often changes the types of medications they take.