Caregiver Apps: Help for Caregivers in the Home

Dear Allegra,

My father has been living with Alzheimer’s for three years now, and I have taken on the role as his caregiver. As you can imagine, it is quite challenging. He takes several medications and it can be difficult to keep track. I have alarms set in my phone for each pill and I even have some relatives on call to assist him if I’m not around. However, keeping track of everything has been difficult. I work 50-hour weeks and while I want to help my father, it has been hard to manage schedules on top of my own workload.

Setting reminders in my phone and having on-call loved ones has been helpful, but I was wondering if there is a more streamlined process for this matter. I have almost missed a few medication doses, and there have even been times where I simply forgot to schedule someone to visit my father. These mistakes have been easily fixable in the past, but I’m worried my father could be in danger if I keep making these human errors.

Do you have any advice on keeping organized?

Charles

Keeping Organized with Caregiver Apps

Dear Charles,

Keeping track of your loved one’s schedule in addition to your other responsibilities can be difficult, and I’m proud of you for taking steps. Luckily, there are several caregiver apps to assist you in organizing medications, receiving community help, and providing your own self care.

• Alzheimer’s Caregiver Buddy: The Alzheimer’s Association developed this app to help caregivers manage personal stress and activities for their loved one. The app gives you 24/7 access to free help from the Alzheimer’s Association Helpline and provides tips for challenging behaviors such as wandering, aggression, and hallucinations. This free mobile app for caregivers is available on iPhone and Android.
• Carezone: Help for caregivers is at your fingertips with Carezone. The app allows you to take photos of medications, which will result in names, dosages, and other information without the need to type. Caregivers can also create to-do lists, and they’ll always have a convenient, updated medication list at all times. The free app is available on iPhone and Android.
• Caring Village: The app is designed to assist you in creating “villages” among family and friends to coordinate a loved one’s care. It includes a centralized calendar, document storage, medication lists, and a wellness journal.
• eCare21: Through wireless and wearable devices, this app can track your loved one’s medication, weight, calorie intake, heart rate, glucose, and sleep. This app is ideal for a working or long-distance caregiver and allows you to monitor a loved one without being intrusive. eCare21 is available on your iPhone and iPad.
• Lotsa Helping Hands: As a caregiver, you need all the help you can get. Lotsa Helping Hands has a Help Calendar where you can post requests for assistance and coordinate scheduling for meals, rides to appointments, and family visits. The caregiver software also lets you post announcements and send messages of support.

I hope this list helps, and I wish the best of luck to you and your father.

Sincerely,

Allegra