L.E.A.F. Review

L.E.A.F., or Love Effects A Future, was a great idea for an app. So many caretakers don’t have support out there for them. This is a way for the caretakers as well as the patients to be taken care of. Many times we only really think about how dementia effect the patient and we don’t stop to think about how this cruel disease effects the families and caregivers of those dealing with this.

My grandmother has lived with us my entire life, she was always healthy and spry until recently when we started to notice that she was deteriorating and very quickly. The only reason that we could think of was that she was getting older and it as just a part of aging. Unfortunately for her with aging also came dementia. She went from being the most intelligent woman I knew to being a shell of her former self. She doesn’t even know who we are anymore, being away for college when I come home she thinks that I’m some stranger trying to take her away or steal her things. It is a frightening concept.

My mom works full time and still manages to take care of my grandmother, probably because she’s secretly Wonder Woman. But I can see it starting to weight down on her. She could use and app like this to be able to remind her of when my grandmother needs to take certain medications and when she needs to go to the numerous doctor visits. This app would also give her support, to know that she is not the only person that has to raise her mom in the state she is in.

This app is an app of hope. This shows that there is hope out there that even though every day gets a little harder there are still people routing for you and your loved one. Some of the sections with in this app I believe could be useful for those in the early stages of dementia and help them with reminders and keeping up with their lives as close to before as possible. Unfortunately, though when they are too far gone this would only be able to be used by the caregiver.

The idea of linking your social media to an app that has confidential information is a little unsettling to me though. For those who can no longer reason they may share that information with people that shouldn’t have it because they no longer know any different. But otherwise I think that this app is a very good idea and should be available to everyone who is a caregiver.