A Nottingham man has created an app to help carers get the respite they need as well as helping women feel safer at night. With the strains of being a daily carer, the app was created to “spread a bit of gold in the world” and try to help those who may be struggling stay more organised.
Carers UK statistics show that there are around 13.6 million people in the UK who care for someone. 1 in 8 adults are carers.
Kevin Shaw, 53 has been a carer for decades. Kevin, who is from Sneinton , has cared for family members with dementia.
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Kevin’s app, CareSquared will soon be available to download from all app stores. Originally, the app was created for Kevin who is a carer himself but then decided to help others.
After getting in touch with developers and creating a small team, Caresquared has more features to be added. The app has had 30 testers so far.
Kevin said: “Dementia destroys and crushes lives, this app was created for carers whether they’re caring for someone neurodivergent, or someone with dementia, any carer wants one thing: and it’s to have a little bit of time back whether it’s a few minutes or hours.”
The app has features where you can schedule the day of the person you are caring for, as well as your own. For those in the early stages of their diagnosis before they deteriorate, the app can also be used by them.
Kevin continued and said: “The app also allows picture images so for dementia patients who don’t have great memory, they identify certain things by using images, this form of communication helps them keep a little bit of independence. This app isn’t designed to replace care, it is to support care.
“You can’t replace individual familiarity.”
With the app, you can also set reminders to go shopping, make food and give someone their medication. Kevin, whose grandma died of dementia over a decade ago, added: “I think that this app would give carers the respite that they’re dying for when we first got the app, a vulnerable person had it on their phone and they had gone missing, their carer couldn’t find him.
“I then realised, they had the app and they were found in five minutes. We have recruited 30 testers so far and the response has been positive with good ideas from people on how to develop the app further.”
The app’s multifunctional purpose is to also track down missing people and help women feel safer at night. Kevin said: “The app is also about taking care of missing people, what makes this app different is say you were out and about, you can alert someone if you’re in trouble and that will alert other users.”
The alert triggers a community response as, in many missing cases, the police have to wait 24 hours to declare someone as officially missing . Kevin continued: “If a user sees that you’ve alerted people you’re in danger they’ll either leave or get you out, the more people that use the app the better.
“I call this proximity heroes.”
Some users of the app have already praised it.
IAPT Counselling and psychotherapy professional lead for Cornwall, Laura Matthews said: “This app is innovative, non discriminatory and accessible to all who may benefit and obtain respite from its ability to provide remote care.”
Laura, 36, continued: “It is important to fully utilise technology safely to enhance and develop effective care for vulnerable people, especially those with dementia.
The Caresquared app is a creative and positive step in that direction and should be encouraged to be launched.”
Amit Patel, a Research and Development Scientist added: “I was drawn to testing the Caresquared App as I have lived experience, having lost my father to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. My opinion is that Caresquaredapp is in its own futuristic league, with seemingly limitless applications in how it simply and indescribably benefits and save lives.”
Amit, who lives in the US, continued: “I wholeheartedly believe it would be a travesty for this app not to be launched.
"I will always be a supporter of the Caresquaredapp and forever have the utmost gratitude to Kevin Shaw and be in his debt for conjuring such a phenomenal app, speaking as one who was saved by it. Thank you, Kevin, even though one can never thank you enough."
You can join the app's pre-launch mailing list at http://care-squared.com.
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