If you use a smart phone there are apps which can help you in your caring role.

Take a look at this really useful article, written by our friends at Sheffield Carers Centre to find out more!

Apps can be a really useful and quick way of looking at a website and can and also provide tools to help with everyday life from the ease of your phone.

Many apps have now been developed to support people who are caring for someone in their family, or to provide extra information on particular conditions. For example, medication apps are there to remind someone with dementia to take their medication, or to show to a family member whether or not they have taken their medication. There are also many health apps, designed to help people watch how much sugar they’ve taken that day using quick and easy logging.

There are often a number of apps with a similar purpose so choosing the right one can be confusing. It is worth noting who designed the app (is it something you’ve heard of, e.g. ‘the NHS’); how many other people have downloaded the app; any ratings which other users have given the app; how applicable the information in it is to you (eg, check it is based in the UK and not the US). It is also very sensible to check whether the information you load onto the app will be kept securely (it might be worth googling the app to find out if it is seen as reliable and trustworthy).

You may also find the NHS Choices Tools Library (www.nhs.uk/tools/pages/toolslibrary) and the My Health apps website (www.myhealthapps.net) useful as they have a number of apps and other resources that promote health and well-being.

We’d mainly recommend typing the condition of the person you’re caring for, or ‘carers’ into the app downloading system on your phone. But here are a few ideas of apps available to get you started:

• Jointly – enables carers who are caring for the same person to see what other carers have done and stay on top of all the jobs which need to be done.Jobs can be added to the list and then each family member or friend can tick to show when it has been completed (e.g. shopping, medication given). Appointments can also be shared on the calendar, and you can also share notes about how the person you care for seemed that day. Jointly is produced by Carers UK.

• NHS Health and Symptom Checker–information about your symptoms and advice for looking after yourself. Produced by NHS Direct.

• RCP Stroke Guidance – informationand advice particularly for the early stages after someone has had a stroke, and oversee the appointments/support from different professionals. Also provides a forum for talking with other carers. Produced by the Royal College of Physicians.

• Talking Point Support Forum–information and advice for people with dementia and their carers, and advice forums. Produced by the Alzheimer’s Society.

• The House of Memories – enables you to build an electronic memory box,memory tree and timeline which can be lovely for someone with dementia

• SAM – support for anxiety andmethods for managing your own anxiety levels. This has been developed by psychologists and users.SAM will help you to understand what causes your anxiety, monitor your anxious thoughts and behaviour overtime and manage your anxiety through self-help exercises and private reflection.

• Medisafe and Pill Manager – each ofthese are designed to help you track what pills the person you care for needs to take, and account for any change in dosage etc.

We hope you find some of the ideas above useful. If you would like to find out more about the support available to student carers at the University and across in the City, take a look at our Student Carers pages.