The use of technology has become more and more prevalent in the past few years. There are many ways that we use technology to make life easier, like using apps for senior caregiving at home. Apps can improve communication, and efficiency, and save time for caregivers.
Additionally, seniors gain various other benefits from using wellness apps. Improved quality of life, gentle reminders for medication, and daily tasks are among the top benefits of wellness apps.
Many wellness apps are available, but not all are created equal. This article will explore five wellness apps designed for senior caregiving at home. We will discuss the features of each app and how they benefit seniors and caregivers.
What are the benefits of using mobile apps for senior caregiving at home?
Caregivers can use mobile apps to stay organized and keep track of everything they need to do. Therefore, caregivers save a significant amount of time by using apps. The app can remind caregivers of tasks, medication schedules, and doctor appointments.
Additionally, the caregiver can input dosage, frequency of medications, and dietary restrictions. This information is accessible to other caregivers who may be helping with the caregiving process.
The caregiver can also use the app to communicate with family members not nearby. Family members can receive updates on the senior’s health and well-being, which gives them peace of mind.
Caregivers can also send pictures and videos to show how the senior is doing. This feature helps family members feel more connected to their loved ones, prevents uncertainty, and makes everyone happier. Limited apps provide this form of emotional support, which substantially improves the quality of life in seniors.
Five best apps in 2022
CaringBridge
CaringBridge is a free app that connects caregivers, patients, and loved ones. It provides a safe place to share updates and receive messages of support. CaringBridge is used by millions of people every year and featured on Good Morning America and NPR.
CaringBridge makes it easy to keep everyone in the loop about health updates. Patients can post updates and photos and shareable with loved ones or to specific people or groups. In addition, this app helps prevent worry and stress among family members who live far away.
In addition, CaringBridge offers an all-in-one scheduling tool for meals, appointments, and medication. Patients and caregivers can create and share a custom calendar with family and friends. Hiring help to care for your loved ones is one of the best ways they never feel lonely. The streamlined organization allows additional time spent with seniors and reminders for never missing essential tasks.
CareZone
CareZone is an app that helps caregivers manage medications, doctors’ appointments, and health insurance. It also has a place to store medical records and emergency contacts. CareZone makes it easy to keep track of everything in one place.
This app is beneficial for seniors who have multiple prescriptions. The “Pharmacy” feature allows users to input prescription information, including dosage and frequency. This way, other caregivers will have all the information to fill a prescription. Additionally, eCommerce pharmacies ship directly to your door, so you don’t have to pick up prescriptions.
The “Appointments” feature keeps track of upcoming doctor visits, tests, and surgeries. It sends reminders to the patient and caregiver to avoid missed appointments and medications.
CareZone offers a data integration feature with data collection products like the Apple Watch or FitBit. This feature allows caregivers to track seniors’ activity levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. This information can help detect early signs of illness and measure their quality of life.
Elevate
The first two apps we talked about revolve around senior caregiving. Elevate, a brain-training app falls closer to the wellness category than a caregiving app. However, the app made this list because of the benefits of brain-training games for seniors. Playing games on the Elevate app improves your overall health and wellness, as reported by Digital Authority Partners.
The Elevate app is designed to give you new information to learn, test your knowledge, and improve different cognitive tasks like math, speech, writing, and reading. Unfortunately, as we age, so does our brain. That means we aren’t as sharp as we used to be. Elevate reverses this process through their collection of gamified, brain-training exercises in a fun manner.
Headspace
Headspace is another wellness app designed to improve sleep, focus, and memory. In addition to the cognitive benefits, Headspace also offers guided meditation. Meditation can improve anxiety, depression, and pain.
Headspace walks users through each step of meditation, ensuring they remain focused. Seniors significantly benefit from meditation as they age. Meditation can help clear the mind, improve focus, and calm nerves.
The app also offers a Sleepcast, a guided sleep meditation perfect for seniors who have trouble sleeping. The Headspace app is free to download with ten beginner meditation exercises.
“Facebook” is written on wooden cubes
Social connections are vital to the human psyche. Although Facebook is a controversial choice, the social connections seniors make through the app are invaluable. They can view, like, and interact with their friends and family’s content. That keeps them motivated and more likely to complete tasks like exercise, brain games, and take prescriptions.
Although not listed, exercise is the most important thing for seniors. Unfortunately, so many people fall into a cycle of not exercising. When this happens, the body starts to adapt and decrease muscle needs.
Therefore, you get weaker as this cycle continues. Resistance bands, light dumbells, or even walking more are the best ways for seniors to exercise at home.
Final Thoughts
There is a multitude of wellness apps on the market today. We’ve highlighted five that we feel provide the most benefit for seniors at home. These apps offer great memory aids, medication tracking, and storage features for health insurance information.
But beyond that, they also offer unique benefits like brain training games, guided meditation, and social connections. We hope you enjoy showing these apps to your seniors!
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