"I'm more frustrated with our 'treat the symptom, not the problem' reactive healthcare approach," says Jim French, founder and CEO of the Live Learn Innovate Foundation, a nonprofit based in Raleigh, NC, that has created an app to help people keep track of symptoms and health data.
After his mother was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, French decided to create the Best Life app to help people get earlier detection and to work with medical professionals to make sure such misdiagnoses don't happen again.
"Having something like a symptom diary is important and beneficial for not only the person using them, but also the healthcare providers that can use the data for their own research," French writes on the foundation's blog.
Best Life allows users to track everything from sleep and food intake to medications and bowel movements, and RiAnn Bradshaw, the marketing director for LLIF, says the app provides a "peace of mind" for patients, as well as a better understanding of the patient for the doctor.
"With an app like Best Life, patients can track anything from headaches and sleep to food and exercise," Bradshaw writes.
"It can also help with preventative health measures and life planning."
Best Life is currently free for iPhone and Android, and Bradshaw says
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Breathe Magic, an international program that incorporates specially adapted magic tricks and performance skills into therapy programs to improve physical and mental health outcomes for people of all ages, will be working or the benefit of children in Australia.