In our daily experience working with care professionals, we have observed a profound transformation of the caregiver profession. Far from the image of a simple domestic helper or physical support, you are now true conductors of well-being, juggling human, medical, and organizational skills. In this complex symphony, your smartphone has become much more than just a communication tool; it has transformed into a digital Swiss army knife, capable of assisting you in the most varied aspects of your mission.
We wish to share with you our vision of mobile applications that, in our view, have become indispensable partners. It is not about replacing human contact, which remains and will always remain at the heart of your job, but about augmenting it, facilitating it, and making it more serene and effective. These tools are discreet allies that allow you to focus on what really matters: the relationship with the person you accompany.
Being a caregiver is above all about being a pillar of stability in the often fluctuating lives of the elderly or those in a state of dependency. This stability rests on flawless organization. Improvisation has its limits, especially when health and safety are at stake. Mobile applications dedicated to organization act as a reliable external memory, freeing you from a considerable mental burden.
Planning to anticipate
The paper agenda is outdated. Shared calendar applications (like Google Calendar, for example) are excellent tools for coordinating interventions. Imagine a schedule accessible in real-time not only by you but also by other caregivers (nurses, physiotherapists) and the family. Everyone can add a medical appointment, a planned visit, or an absence. No more confusion and last-minute calls.
Moreover, the reminder function is your best friend. Scheduling an alert for taking medication at a fixed time, renewing a prescription, or even remembering to do the stimulation exercises recommended by the speech therapist ensures that nothing essential is forgotten amidst a busy day. It's a digital sentinel that keeps watch.
Communicating with transparency
Communication with the family is a cornerstone of trust. However, phone calls can be intrusive, and SMS can get lost in the flow of personal messages. Secure messaging applications, sometimes integrated into broader personal care service platforms, allow you to create a dedicated communication channel.
You can leave a brief report of your day, share a photo of a joyful moment (with the person's consent, of course), or report an important observation (unusual fatigue, lack of appetite). The family, in turn, can communicate important information without disturbing you during your intervention. It's a shared logbook that builds a bond of trust and transparency, reassuring for everyone.
Tracking to better accompany
Your role of observation is crucial. You are often the first to detect subtle changes in a person's health or mood. Note-taking applications or digital tracking journals allow you to record these observations in a structured manner.
- Mood of the day: Did she sleep well? Was she smiling, anxious, apathetic?
- Food and hydration: Did she eat and drink well? What and in what quantity?
- Physical observations: Have you noticed any new redness, difficulty walking, persistent cough?
Recording these elements day after day allows emerging trends and the provision of precise and factual information to the attending physician or family during an assessment. It is no longer just "I think that...", but a documented follow-up that adds weight to your on-the-ground expertise.
Cognitive Stimulation: Keeping the Mind Active and Engaged
We know that your role doesn't stop at body care. The mind equally needs attention, especially in the face of pathologies like Alzheimer's disease. The brain is a muscle: the less it is used, the more it loses its abilities. Offering appropriate stimulation activities is therefore essential, but it can sometimes be a challenge to find relevant and motivating supports.
Our Approach: EDITH Memory Games
In response to this need, we have developed a memory game program on tablets, which we have called EDITH. Our goal was not to create a mere pastime but a real mediation tool to create a bond between you, the caregiver, and the person you accompany. EDITH is an invitation to share.
It's not about leaving the person alone in front of a screen. On the contrary, the idea is to sit beside them and play together. The games are designed to be culturally relevant and stimulating without being infantilizing: completing proverbs, recognizing old songs, general knowledge quizzes, simple mental calculation games... The difficulty automatically adapts to the user's abilities to avoid any failure, which can be so discouraging.
A game of EDITH becomes a pretext for discussion. An old song may bring back a memory of a youth ball. A question about a historical event can spark a conversation about the person's past. It's a bridge to their memory, emotions, history. You're no longer just help; you become a playmate, a confidant, a keeper of memories.
Beyond the Game: Training to Better Understand and Support
A tool, however efficient, only reveals its full potential in expert and caring hands. Using games like EDITH with a person suffering from cognitive disorders requires a fine understanding of the disease and good communication practices. That's why we emphasize supporting professionals.
This is the goal of our training session to learn how to care for patients with Alzheimer's. We address crucial points to make technology a true lever of well-being. This training gives you the keys to:
- Understand the mechanisms of the disease and its impacts on behavior.
- Adapt your communication to avoid conflict or misunderstanding situations.
- Use stimulation games not as a performance test but as a means of relationship and empowerment.
- Create a calming and secure environment conducive to exchange.
To learn more about this approach that combines the tool and the human touch, you can view the details of our training program here: Stimulate and Create Bond with Dynseo Games.
Communication: Breaking the Barriers of Aphasia
One of the most heartbreaking challenges, both for the person suffering and their family, is the progressive loss of communication ability. Aphasia, the disorder that prevents finding words, is a silent prison. The person knows what they want to say, but the words do not come. This generates immense frustration, isolation, and sometimes aggression. How to help them express a simple need like "I'm thirsty," "I'm cold," or "I hurt here"?
MY DICTIONARY: A Bridge Between Needs and Words
It is to build this fragile bridge that we designed MY DICTIONARY. This application is not a game but a tool for Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). Its principle is straightforward: it is a visual and sound dictionary.
The app is organized by categories of basic needs: drinking, eating, dressing, hygiene, pain, emotions... Within each category, clear images and pictograms represent objects or actions. For example, in "Drink," the person will find images of a glass of water, coffee, juice. By touching the image, a synthetic voice pronounces the word: "Water."
For you, the caregiver, MY DICTIONARY is a decoder. Instead of guessing and offering multiple options that can annoy the person, you can open the application and explore it with them. "Is your need in the 'Drinks' section?" This gives them back the power to act and autonomy. It's a way to bypass the speech block to directly address the essential: the need or feeling. It's a way to give them back their voice, even if it passes through a screen.
Safety and Well-being: A Digital Safety Net
Your presence is reassuring, but you cannot be there 24/7. The concern for safety, including the risk of falling or wandering, is constant for families. Here again, mobile technology offers solutions that act as an invisible safety net, extending your vigilance even when you are not on-site.
Alert and Geolocation Systems
Traditional call medallions have evolved. Today, many applications are coupled with portable devices (watches, pendants) that integrate automatic fall detectors. If a sudden fall is detected, an alert is immediately sent to the emergency contacts you or the family have pre-registered, with the person's GPS location.
For individuals with disorienting disorders like Alzheimer's, who may be prone to wandering, discrete GPS trackers (slipped in a pocket, shoe, or bag) connected to an application on your smartphone allow setting a safety perimeter. If the person leaves this area, you receive a notification. It's not about "spying," but being able to react quickly in dangerous situations and avoiding hours of anxiety.
Quick Access to Vital Information
In case of medical emergency and SAMU intervention, every minute counts. Applications allow creating an "emergency medical card" accessible directly from the locked screen of the person's smartphone (or yours). This card can contain:
- Blood type
- Known allergies (medications, foods)
- Current treatments
- Chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension)
- Contacts to notify (family, attending physician)
Having this information immediately available can make a crucial difference for first responders and ensure faster and more appropriate care.
Support for You: Don't Forget Yourself in the Equation
Finally, we could not conclude without talking about you. The caregiver profession is demanding, physically and emotionally. The empathy that makes your strength can also make you vulnerable to stress and burnout. To take good care of others, it is crucial to start by taking care of yourself. Your smartphone can also be a resource for your own well-being.
Finding Support and Sharing Experiences
You are not alone. Thousands of professionals experience the same joys and difficulties as you. Applications and forums dedicated to caregivers and auxiliary nurses allow exchanging advice, sharing difficult situations, finding comfort, and breaking isolation. Talking with peers who fully understand your reality is an extremely valuable outlet.
Managing Stress and Taking a Step Back
Just a few minutes in your day can be enough to refocus. Guided meditation, heart coherence, or relaxation apps (like Petit BamBou, Calm, or RespiRelax+) are excellent tools for learning to manage stress peaks. A short session in your car between interventions can help you release tension and approach the next visit with more calmness and availability.
In conclusion, mobile technology is not an end in itself. It's a set of tools at your disposal. Just as a musician chooses the right instrument to play their score, you can choose the right apps to orchestrate safer, more stimulating, and more human care. Tools like EDITH or MY DICTIONARY are not designed to replace your intuition or warmth but to amplify them, giving you the means to build bridges where the disease erects walls. Your role is and will remain irreplaceable; technology is simply there to help you perform it under the best possible conditions.
In the article "Essential Mobile Apps for the Modern Caregiver," we explore how mobile technologies can transform the daily lives of caregivers by facilitating task management and improving communication with patients. A related topic is covered in another article discussing solutions for home care for the elderly. This article, titled "EHPAD or Home Care: What Solutions to Choose?" examines the various options available for the elderly and their families when choosing between a residential facility for dependent seniors (EHPAD) and home care. To learn more about this topic, you can read the full article by following this link.
