More than 65 million people, or nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population, are currently caring for an elderly, ailing, or disabled family member.
Unpaid and often working other jobs or caring for children at the same time, these individuals face many obstacles.
The inability to leave their home when they choose, coupled with long hours of care and the stress of being responsible for a dying, sick, or disabled loved one can quickly lead to caregiver burnout.
This often means extreme mental exhaustion, depression, or even physical symptoms. It can also leave the individual unable to properly care for their loved one.
Luckily, there are ways to deal with caregiver burnout. One way is to utilize modern technology to lessen the stress and burden of care.
Keep reading to learn a few apps that can help caregivers avoid burnout and destress.
AARP Caregiving
With more than 2 million apps available on the Google Play or Apple stores, it can be tough to sift through them all to find apps that you trust.
But when an app is produced by one of the leaders in elderly care, you know that its one you can trust.
AARP Caregiving provides a variety of tools and resources to help empower and educate caregivers.
Their Caregiving app allows you to keep track of medications and appointment, and coordinate care of a loved one with other family members. It also features a help center where you can post questions or search for answers to questions about common ailments and issues.
CareZone
One of the hardest parts of taking care of an aging or ailing loved one is being responsible for their medical records and other important information.
Many records can be transferred between doctors. But when you’re jumping from one specialist to the next, working with home care nurses, or if you find yourself visiting the emergency room, you need to have important records on hand.
Otherwise, your loved one could receive medications that cause a bad reaction or not get specialized care that they desperately need.
You could carry around binders and totes filled with medical records. When you need to answer a doctor’s question, you’ll be left sifting through endless files. And if you forget your bag at home, you’ll be stuck.
CareZone is designed to help with that.
This app is designed for storing and managing your loved one’s records. Use it to keep track of medications, appointments, important contact information, and more. You can even create to-do lists to help you stay organized and never miss an important appointment.
Headspace
One of the most important things that caregivers can do to avoid common burnout symptoms is to take a break and focus on their own health and well-being.
Headspace is a guided meditation app.
In just a few minutes a day, it can help you learn mindfulness tactics and meditation skills. Use these to relax and refocus, allowing you to combat the mental exhaustion that comes with caring for an ailing loved one.
You can choose from a variety of mindfulness and meditation options you can tailor to your schedule. Squeeze in a few moments of meditation while sitting in a waiting room or on a long commute.
Learn more here about other ways caregivers can care for their own well-being to avoid burnout.
Alzheimer’s Caregiver Buddy
Alzheimer’s is a stressful condition for caregivers to deal with.
Alzheimer’s is a very common progressive disease that largely affects aging individuals. It can destroy the individual’s long and short-term memory, often over an extended period of time.
This memory loss can lead to confusion, violent outbursts, and a number of other dangerous situations. Caregivers not only have to deal with these, but also the loss of their loved one as they slowly forget who they are and how they are related.
For this reason, there are many support networks out there to help caregivers taking care of people suffering from Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Association is one of them.
It created their app, the Alzheimer’s Caregiver Buddy, which aims to provide 24/7 support to caregivers.
Besides the round-the-clock helpline, the app also includes tips on daily care, resources for coping with Alzheimer’s symptoms, and more.
Elder 411
If you’re new to being a caregiver, you may be feeling lost about where to even start.
Luckily, there’s an app for that. The Elder 411 app helps caregivers navigate the start of their new position by breaking down important skills and details you may not have thought of yet.
The app offers tips for increasing safety in your home, learning how to communicate with doctors and loved ones, and information on what kind of records you’ll need to keep.
It’s like a guidebook for the world of caregiving, but in a handy, easy to reference app format. It even features audio tips that you can listen to on your daily commute or while driving to doctors appointments.
Fighting Back Against Caregiver Burnout
Caregiver burnout is a serious problem. When it comes to caring for an ailing, aging, or disabled loved one, you need to be at your best, both physically and emotionally.
Apps like the ones on this list can help with that. They’ll teach you valuable skills, help you keep track of appointments and records, and even aid in teaching you how to relax and refocus.
These, along with a strong support network of friends and doctors you’re comfortable expressing your concerns to will go a long way towards helping you avoid the symptoms of caregiver burnout.
This means you’ll be able to care for your loved one longer, which can help you avoid making the difficult decision to place them in a nursing home or other facility. Even if that is financially possible, it can be even more stressful and emotional than caring for your loved one on your own.
Caregiver apps are far from the only apps that can help keep you healthy and organized. If you’re looking for other essential apps to try out, check out this list of the best weight-loss and fitness apps next.
