It can be difficult to find the time for an appointment, but apps built with Apple’s CareKit framework give patients and doctors a convenient way to share data and communicate. Not only do the apps let users track progress of scheduled exercise and medication, but patients can also send photos to their doctors to ask for their opinion.
The first CareKit apps were released today (April 28), and among other features, allow expecting mothers to track fertility, and Diabetes patients to keep tabs on their blood sugar levels and meds. Here are the current list of CareKit apps available, so you can see if there are any that fit your medical needs.
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One Drop
One Drop for Diabetes Management helps patients track daily physical activity, blood-glucose levels, dietary habits and other information. The app accesses this information through connected activity trackers and Apple Health, which syncs data from Glucose monitoring devices and other Bluetooth-connected gadgets.
One Drop also allows you to set goals and that you and your physician can keep track of, and receive reminders for daily meds. One Drop offers a month-and-week at-a-glance view screen with color-coded bubbles so you can observe trends in your levels.
Glow Nurture
Glow Nurture gives soon-to-be moms a place to log updates about their pregnancy and get insights from their doctor about how they’re feeling. The program works with accessories to track your weight and blood pressure, and lets you log morning sickness, headaches and cramps.
The base version of the app is free and offers access to a trimester-specific tracker that lets you know what to expect and advice based on what you’ve logged. Users can unlock Glow Nurture Premium for $7.99 per month or $48 per year, which includes access to exclusive articles and private messaging with other Glow users.
Glow Baby
Your communication with your doctor doesn’t end after your child is born, so Glow Baby offers charts and help for new mothers to log and schedule bottle feeds, diaper changes and medication. The app will give moms specific advice based on the information they’ve entered and a schedule of upcoming Center for Disease Control milestones to prepare for.
Moms can also send photos of their child to their doctor, making it easy to let doctors view a condition and respond if it merits a visit. Glow Baby also offers a premium mode, which costs $7.99 per month or $48 per year, which lets moms find out if their newborn’s behavior is normal and to let multiple caregivers input activity for a single child.
Start
If you suffer from depression, Start offers you a way to track how your specific medications are affecting you. The app lists the most common side effects, and offers a way to set up an appointment if your experience varies.
Start sends what it calls “gentle notifications” that ask users for updates on their moods and to take their medications. Start only needs six weeks of your data to know whether or not your current antidepressant is working, and sends bi-weekly progress reports to keep you informed.
