Description of reviewed smartphone apps
| Name | Author(s) | Description | Platform | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pallimed: a hospice and palliative medicine blog | Dr Drew Rosielle, Dr Dale Lapu, Dr Suzana Makowski, Dr Christian Sinclair and Dr Holly Yang | Pallimed is the app version of the palliative medicine internet blog.13 Pallimed contributors provide their opinions on journal articles and news stories relevant to palliative care. The articles appear in chronological order and provide the user with topical information related to palliative medicine. Focused on posts from North America, Pallimed features an arts section which provides commentary on music, television, film and general media of interest to palliative care. The app is limited by the absence of a function to search for specific topics on the blog. | iPhone Android | Free |
| GeriPal: a geriatrics and palliative care blog | Dr Alex Smith and Dr Eric Widera | GeriPal is the app version of an internet blog that aims to be a forum for discussion of news and research relevant to geriatric medicine and palliative care.14 The blog was awarded the title of the best medical blog in 2010. Selected articles from North American journals appear on the app in chronological order in a style similar to Pallimed. The focus on geriatric care may limit the interest of users working in other specialties. Further, users are unable search for articles or post comments while using the app version of the blog site. | iPhone | Free |
| PalliApp | Dr Max Watson | PalliApp is the iPhone version of the Palliative Network Guidelines (PANG 2011) which have been written and reviewed by palliative care staff from eight cancer networks.15 PANG have also been endorsed by the Palliative Care Implementation Board in Wales and the Royal College of General Practitioners. PalliApp provides symptom and disease specific guidelines for a range of diseases. The app offers a search feature enabling the user to search the guidelines. PalliApp provides information on the completion of the Liverpool Care Pathway and the Gold Standards Framework. The ease of navigation to different sections of the app is limited by the lack of hyperlinks within the text. | iPhone | £2.99 |
| Palliative Care | Simpaddico | Palliative Care is an app designed to facilitate learning about key issues in palliative care. Information appears in the style of flash cards, with each card providing a brief discussion of key issues around a particular subject (eg, constipation, definition of total pain). Users can search for topics and save their favourite cards to enable quick access at a later point. The content seems to be aimed at medical and nursing students, or newly qualified health professionals with little experience of palliative medicine. | iPhone Android | £1.99 |
| eOpioid | SentientWare | eOpioid is an opioid dose converter for the iPhone. Users are able to compare equivalent doses of commonly used opioids and for different routes. The app gives users the option to determine the equivalency percentage for the opioid calculations. The app features a function to calculate patient controlled analgesia doses and also provides users with information on specific long- and short-acting preparations which can be prescribed depending on the opioid calculation. | iPhone | £2.99 |
| PalliCalc | Dr Ian Back | PalliCalc is an opioid dose convertor affiliated to PalliApp. The app enables the user to calculate equivalence opioid dosages for different routes of medication, and for regular and as-required (PRN) doses. The app is quick and simple and uses traditional conversion ratios. | iPhone | £0.59 |