PD Buddy App

Thankyou. So much

I’ve tried all the available apps for folks w Parkinson’s, but none are like PD Buddy! It envelopes you with welcoming prompts and whimsical illustrations, and instantly creates that “buddy” vibe. This contrasts sharply with the far more sterilized, formal, and science-y Parkinson’s apps which simply demand too much time and focus to participate (at least for me!! While the more “clinical” type interfaces of the other apps may have a utilitarian role in your care team’s management of your granular symptom documentation, they prove challenging to maintain by the Patient him/herself. Just too much to click through and diligently document on a daily basis reliably. Most notably, in the other apps targeting PD patients, the “relationship” is between you and the app in a silo. Whereas, the PD Buddy app democratizes the experience by creating connections and friendships with and between users/ patients … you immediately feel “less alone” in a real world that was previous so isolating. The interactive “social” experience of PD Buddy builds a sense of community through the “Groups” tab where members create virtual “online clubs” (by theme or topic) as another way to connect with others. The whole PD Buddy app experience is inviting, stimulating, and engaging. With all those differentiators, the ability to capture “daily patient symptoms” is still visually elegant, paired down, but still robust enough, without being so arduous that you quit. The most useful function in the PD Buddy app is the “daily routines” section where the patient tracks all activities of self-care and exercise. There’s a fun point system allocated to successes throughout each day and gives you a dopamine kick for that alone! While still in beta test mode, the “early adopters” can give feedback directly to the developer on glitches (as there are some to resolve) or suggestions for “future feature” roll outs to come. Collaborative. That’s the one word I’d use to describe this wonderful little app that packs a punch in useful data capture but sprinkles in lot of fun and whimsy to an otherwise dreary Parkinson’s Disease experience!