Smart mobile devices have become a common part of our everyday lives. What was once seen as a luxury has now become a utility – and one that has many uses.
In the right hands a smart mobile device can be a really useful tool for you as a Carer, not only to make phone calls and communicate with loved ones or supervisors, but also for their apps.
There are so many apps available for smart phones and tablets that can make your life much easier – whether they’re for taking care of yourself or someone else.
Last week we highlighted four apps that we think are really great for Carers, which you can read here, but why stop at four! We think eight is much better…so here are another four for you to try out!
MyFitnessPal
Food is fuel and a healthy and balanced diet can influence the quality of the care you provide in a positive way. Because of this, keeping track of what you are eating is vital and MyFitnessPal is the perfect tool for doing this.
With MyFitnessPal, you can keep a daily log of what has been eaten throughout the day, meal by meal and thanks to its extremely comprehensive food database, you can find pretty much any food on there with its nutritional information. This will allow you to keep a close eye on your diet, making sure that you’re having a healthy and balanced intake of all the food groups. It also allows you to adjust the amount of each food item, meaning that the daily food log is as accurate as it can be.
Like its name indicates, MyFitnessPal also allows you to track exercise regimes, being able to view how many calories have been burned with each bit of exercise done, as a healthy diet and regular exercise go hand in hand!
Available for free on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
Allrecepies Dinner Spinner
Keeping with the subject of food, while it’s all well and good providing your client or loved one with a balanced and healthy diet, you also want them to enjoy what they’re eating and have a bit of variety in their meals. For this, Allrecipes Dinner Spinner is a really great option.
Allrecipes Dinner Spinner is essentially a database of member-submitted recipes, all able to be accessed from your mobile device with photos, videos and nutritional ratings to aid the cooking process. These recipes cover all different types of foods and beverages, whether sweet or savoury and each one can be reviewed by the online community.
There are a couple of things, though, that make this app different. First is its “super search” function which allows you to search recipes according to dietary needs, certain ingredients or products, and even ingredients that you do or do not want in the meal. The second unique function is the “Dinner Spinner” for when you’re having trouble deciding what you want to cook. All you need to do is shake your device and it will give you a random recipe to use!
Available for free on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
Evernote
As a Carer things can get overwhelming – especially if you’re trying to keep a mental list of everything that you need to do. This is where Evernote comes in handy.
The simplicity of what Evernote offers is why we love it so much. It’s a single place for you to store all your to-do lists, journals and notes, which can be accessed from all your devices. So you can get all your reminders noted down so you don’t forget all the important things you need to do! It also lets you store and sort relevant photos, documents and websites in a single place as well. This feature is especially useful if you’re collaboratively caring for a loved one with other family members as you can share notes with other people so they’re up-to-date with what’s going on.
Available for free on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
Breathe2Relax
Part of being a successful Carer is taking care of yourself – a healthy and happy Carer is a good Carer! With that said feelings of stress and even anxiety can come about from time to time. This is very normal for anyone, but luckily there are many ways to help overcome these feelings and one of them is Breathe2Relax.
Breathe2Relax is a great little app that provides the user with useful information and tips on the effects of stress on the body, and how to manage it. The real magic of it though is it’s range of tried and tested breathing techniques that are really simple to follow, and assist with managing stress, anger, mood and anxiety.
These breathing techniques are accompanied by visuals, telling you exactly when to breathe in and breathe out and how many times to do it. You’ll be surprised by how much proper breathing can help relieve stress and anxiety!
Available for free on iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
We hope you’ve found these last 2 blogs useful, and are now inspired to try out some of these apps for yourself! If you have any useful apps that you use when you’re providing care to someone, let us know in the comments below.