When I first heard about Carers UK’s Jointly app, I was juggling full-time work with caring for my parents.
I was living in London – 170 miles away from their home in Staffordshire. It was a complicated and stressful situation. My mum has a range of conditions, including osteoporosis and arthritis. My dad had been caring for her, until 2015 when he was diagnosed with lymphoma and needed care himself.
My siblings and I tried to coordinate it between us, taking turns to travel to their home to help around the house, cook meals and take them to appointments.
Jointly was an excellent way of making sure we had all the information we needed in one place. We only had to enter the information once and all of us had access to it. Up until then we’d been trying to coordinate everything through email, phone calls and trying to share calendars.
Each time one of us took mum or dad to an appointment we would make notes in Jointly. The medication list meant we all had up-to-date information to share with the GP – which was essential when dad was prescribed aspirin, which he wasn’t allowed to have whilst on his cancer drugs.
Being able to look after my parents has been really important to me. I wanted to return the care and love they gave me during my childhood. After dad passed away in 2016, my siblings and I have continued to share the care for mum , and Jointly help us do that.
