Apps families use to coordinate care for a parent, sorted by the job each one does
Ten tools, from the group chat to a companion service, with what each costs, what each one is actually for, and which one to pick for which job.
Blog
Notes on looking after a parent, together.
Practical writing for the adult children, siblings and neighbors sharing the care of somebody they love. And, when it's relevant, how Marlow is built and why.
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Marlow vs CaringBridge. Which one does your family need, or is it both?
CaringBridge keeps sixty people informed through the worst weeks. Marlow settles who is driving on Thursday and shows your parent who is coming. Many families use both.
Marlow vs Lotsa Helping Hands. Which one does your family need?
Lotsa rallies a wide circle of volunteers around someone who is ill. Marlow keeps a family's rides straight and gives the parent her own screen. Prices, facts and a rule.
Marlow vs Cozi for a family looking after a parent
Cozi runs a busy household's week beautifully, lists and meals included. Marlow does one narrow job for families sharing a parent's rides, with a screen of her own.
Who gets notified about what in Marlow
What buzzes on your phone, what the organizer hears that nobody else does, what your parent's phone is never sent, and what to do when one doesn't arrive.
Hospital discharge on a Friday
The questions to ask before leaving the hospital, and how a family gets through the first weekend at home without losing the follow ups.
Marlow vs a shared Google Calendar for a parent's appointments and rides
A shared calendar already knows when and where, on every phone, free. What it cannot tell you is whether anyone agreed to drive, and that gap is the whole comparison.
Repeating appointments and round trips
Dialysis three mornings a week entered once, a standing driver so nobody gets asked twice a week, and a ride home that a different person can take.
Marlow vs the family group chat for coordinating a parent's rides
The chat is free, instant and already has everyone in it. What it cannot hold is the answer to who is driving on Thursday, and that one gap is the whole comparison.
Six things people find in Marlow weeks after they start
The widget, the lock screen card, the ride back, the standing driver, the medicine reminder, and what your parent sees when nobody has taken a ride yet.
Setting up your circle in about ten minutes
What to have within reach before you open Marlow, and the order that gets a family from a pile of clinic letters to a working schedule in one sitting.
Getting your parent's paperwork in one place
What to gather, where to keep it, who should be able to open it, and the one sheet that belongs on the fridge for a paramedic.
Caregiver burnout doesn't announce itself
How it shows up in the adult child holding a parent's schedule together, and what helps once it has.
When one sibling is doing everything
How the load ends up on one person, why a list gets help where asking doesn't, and how to divide the jobs that aren't driving.
Why your parent's screen in Marlow has no buttons that matter
Marlow shows the person being cared for one screen and lets them change nothing. The reasoning, what it rules out, and how it's enforced below the app.
Big targets and no mistakes: why the parent's screen has nothing to break
Fitts's law and the 44 point guideline explain the big buttons, and the fear of breaking something explains why none of them can touch the schedule.
One screen, no menus: why your parent's side of Marlow shows so little
Choice, working memory and attention all get more expensive with age, which is why the parent's screen shows today and what is next and nothing else.
Keeping track of an aging parent's medical appointments
A simple system for the appointments themselves: what to record, what to bring, how to handle follow-ups, and how to keep the whole family reading the same page.
Why the type on your parent's screen is so big
What happens to eyes after 60, what the contrast guidelines actually ask for, and why the two halves of Marlow are set at different sizes.
The research we followed when we designed your parent's screen
What published work on older adults and technology says, and the specific choice each finding led to on the side of Marlow your parent sees.
How to split driving a parent to appointments between siblings
A fair way to share the rides when a parent stops driving: who takes what, how to decide without a fight, and why the group chat keeps failing at it.
How to be useful in the room at a specialist appointment
The medication list, the written questions, taking notes instead of talking, and what to write down before you leave the building.
The conversation about giving up the car keys
Why it's about independence rather than the car, how to start early and small, when to bring in the doctor, and what to have ready before the keys go.
Marlow is the schedule these posts keep pointing at.
One calendar the whole family shares, and one screen for your parent that asks nothing of them.