Best App or Website to Share Medical Updates

November 20, 2019 12:06 PM

My mother-in-law is currently in hospital (and might be for a while), and various family and friends are carpet-bombing my wife with requests for updates on her status and treatment. Is there an app (iOS and Android) or website where my wife could periodically post updates that could be accessed by approved contacts? Thanks!
posted by joelhunt to Technology (9 answers total)

Our family uses WhatsApp for this purpose. You can create a group of everyone who needs to be kept up to date, and everyone in the group can see the messages. Notifications can be muted so that you don't have to bother with them if you don't want to know when people respond on the group.
posted by Zumbador at 12:11 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Some years ago a high school friend had a child in dicey health, and used Caring Bridge to handle the communication. I've confirmed they have an app as well. They seemed pretty well-run from what I remember.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on November 20, 2019 [18 favorites]

Caring Bridge is an outstanding resource.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:18 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yes, this is exactly why Caring Bridge exists.
posted by anderjen at 12:35 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Came in here to say Caring Bridge too. It's exactly what you want.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:45 PM on November 20, 2019

Nthing Caring Bridge
posted by quatsch at 1:12 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

Caring Bridge is super easy and also lets you compile everything into a photo book at the end of treatment if you want. It can be nice to look back on the status updates, photos and well wishes from friends when you're on the other side of the problem.
posted by victoriab at 6:09 PM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used Caring Bridge, but Mom's brothers wanted daily updates from me at the hospital. Luckily, we are all in the same time zone.

Mom's the oldest, so it's likely to come up again. I plan to delegate updates to other family members. My uncles are tech-savvy, but really wanted a phone call, not a text.
posted by MichelleinMD at 7:43 AM on November 21, 2019

The web site lotsahelpinghands.com does this, too, though its main thrust is scheduling help for meals, errands, and other support.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:56 PM on November 21, 2019