While most health-related smartphone applications are pitched at users looking to take better care of themselves or healthcare professionals seeking efficiency tools, a precious few are intended for use by caregivers of sick family members or friends. The Wall Street Journal rounded up four such apps in today's edition, which also features some metrics from MobiHealthNews most recent apps report, The Fastest Growing and Most Successful Health & Medical Apps. Here's a brief rundown on the four caregiver apps featured in the WSJ:
Tell My Geo is an application for Android devices that costs $9.95 per month per phone. Tell My Geo provides emergency responders with access to the users medical history via the phone, but it also acts as a geolocator for caregivers of seniors with early signs of Alzheimer's or others with autism, mental illness and other ailments that can cause people to become confused about their own whereabouts.
Personal Caregiver is a free iPhone application that purports to do what many other health apps do -- track medications. Personal Caregiver enables a caregiver to schedule and track medications for up to three people. The $9.99 premium edition includes recall alerts from the FDA and more detailed medication info.
Pain Care is a free app for iPhone, Android and (soon) BlackBerry devices that enables users to track pain levels, location, duration, mood and more. According to the WSJ, the data can then be shared with a physician instantly.
iBiomed is a free iPhone app created by Dr. Kwame Iwegbue and his wife Florence that helps them care for for their own special-needs children with autism, seizure disorder, asthma and allergies. In addition to the expected tracking capabilities, the app also enables users to share stories and solicit advice from other caregivers through an online forum.
Read the Wall Street Journal report (sub. req.)
Read the extended version over at MarketResearch
