After its announcement at the iPhone SE launchMarch, Apple has today launched CareKit, which aims to make it easier for patients to monitor and manage their conditions.
CareKit is an open source software platform, which helps developers create healthcare apps with tracking and sharing capabilities built right in.
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Of the new apps, first up are Glow Nurture and Glow Baby, which are used to keep a health log and track the likes of doctor's appointments and feeds during pregnancy and a baby's first year.
With the help of CareKit they also allow you to send details of your progress and any issues to your doctor or anyone else you might want to share the information with. This is sent (securely) via PDF, so there's no need to go in for an appointment or even call them.
Then there's Start, which helps people monitor depression, including pill reminders, symptoms, goals and progress reports. Thanks to CareKit those reports can be sent on to your doctor, but the integration of CareKit also allows the app to inform patients of the effects their medication should be having, so they have a better idea of whether it's working for them.
Finally, there's One Drop, which is a diabetes tracking app that uses CareKit for tracking everything from pain, hunger and dizziness to glucose levels and then allows users to easily share the information with doctors or other caregivers.
Many of these functions could have been built into an app without CareKit, but CareKit provides a framework, which makes it a lot easier to do.
Other app developers are already working on building in CareKit features, including apps for monitoring chronic conditions and those who've recently undergone surgery. With any luck far more apps will start taking advantage of it soon, allowing people with all kinds of conditions to better monitor, track and share them.