Apple's "Loop You In" event yesterday brought many new additions to the Apple ecosystem: the iPhone SE, Apple Watch price reductions and iPad Pro among others. However, one thing the firm revealed that is sure to make people - and their doctors - quite happy: CareKit.
Described by Apple COO Jeff Williams as "a framework to build apps that empower people to use data to understand their health," the CareKit apps begin where the ResearchKit program left off, allowing people to more effectively monitor their health and manage their medical conditions.
The open-source development platform will launch next month with four basic modules: Care Cards, Symptoms and Measurement Tracker, Insight Dashboard and Connect.
Care Cards are essentially interactive to-do lists. Users will compile lists of health-related activities that need to be accomplished within a day, such as taking medication or performing physical therapy exercises, and then users can track their progress toward meeting these goals using an iPhone or Apple Watch.
The Symptoms and Measurement Tracker allows users to record feedback in regards to how they feel and how well they're recovering, while the Insight Dashboard module can compare a user's symptoms against the Care Cards to ensure his or her treatment is effective. For example, if you've been taking medication and entering that data with CareKit along with a pain score, you can check to see how effective your treatment plan is.
Lastly, the Connect module ties everything together, allowing users to share all the gathered data with their physician.
The CareKit apps are a departure from last year's ResearchKit. Whereas ResearchKit allows researchers conducting medical studies on anything from concussions to Hepititis C to gather data on their subjects, CareKit takes a more personal approach and is individually geared for a single user's needs, allowing him or her to find the best route to recovery.
The app has already been well-received by medical centers at across the U.S., with Apple teaming up with Sage Bionetworks and the University of Rochester to allow the the app to monitor the progression of Parkinson's Disease. Apple has promised that the apps will soon be expanded to monitor postsurgery recovery, diabetes, mental health and maternal health.
