A calendar application on the patient’s smart phone can be an ideal complement to the pill organizer. Most smart phones have an appointments calendar application that can be used to setup recurring reminders to take the medications, to visit the doctor, to do physical therapy, etc. It should be possible for the patient and caregiver to share a medication calendar, and in this way the caregiver can set up and alter the medication and appointments schedule as needed without having access to the patient’s cell phone. This can even be done remotely if the calendar is stored online.
Perhaps the most popular shared calendar is provided by Google. There are free apps for both Android phones and iPhones, as well as a web interface for your computer. Both caregiver and patient will need a free Google gmail account to create and share calendars.
Calendar sharing must be set up on the web at calendar.google.com. Google calendar sharing cannot be set up using the phone apps, but once set up, the shared calendars can be accessed via the phone apps.
If both the patient and caregiver have Apple iPhones and iCloud accounts, then
iCloud calendar sharing can be set up using the free built-in Apple calendar app. Once set up, the shared calendars can be accessed via the iPhone calendar app or via the web at icloud.com on any computer.
The Microsoft Outlook calendar is another option for Exchange, Microsoft 365, or Outlook.com customers. Shared calendars are
set up using the Outlook app.
The Lifewire website recently published an
article reviewing these three approaches as well as apps designed specifically for families and businesses. These other apps offer additional features such as to-do lists, messaging, and even location tracking. There may be extra costs for using these apps.
When using any shared calendar, there are a few points to remember. The calendar apps can support multiple calendars. It is best to create a new calendar specifically for sharing between the patient and caregiver. This way, neither party has access to the other’s private events. The service provider, for example Google, Apple, or Microsoft, may have access to your calendar. Be sure to understand their privacy policy. When setting up a new event, verify that reminders are set for that event and that the patient has not silenced their phone or otherwise turned off the alerts.