AppBox Media has today launched CareBuddy, a unique app designed to enable carers to keep in contact with their patients with a simple tap.
CareBuddy also provides an in-built messaging service and can connect both patients and carers to the emergency services should they require it.
The app is the first to link carers directly to patients via an in-built GPS tracker, which will allow the emergency services to locate the patient in the event of an emergency.
Users can define how often to send a message, which allows the app to send a response request from the carer to the patient. A response button then appears on the patient’s device which simply has to be tapped, letting the carer know they are safe.
Recent research conducted by PatientView on what types of apps patients required in order to help unmet patient and carer needs, revealed that both patents and carers aspired to use mobile applications more and wanted to use them in conjunction with their healthcare professionals.
The survey also found that 30% of respondents were active on social media channels focused on health, over 90% of respondents used the internet to search healthcare information, and 30% used health apps. In addition, 55% of respondents wanted an app to provide support (care planning), and 46% wanted an app to track and monitor symptoms in order to benchmark their progress.
Commenting on the app’s launch, Polat Hassan, chief executive of AppBox Media, said: “CareBuddy has been developed to fill a gap in the area of patient/carer communication. To date no other app allows this level of communication between the two and, in particular, an alert system to ensure rapid help should the patient need it. We hope that knowing a carer or the emergency services are simply a click away in the event of an emergency will offer patients a great degree of comfort and help ease the daily concerns of carers who perform a vital and hugely-admirable care role.”
