Newly diagnosed: Parkinson's
Newly diagnosed with Parkinson's? Here is this week.
Newly diagnosed with Parkinson's, the first week is less about emergencies than about habits that will carry for years: the medication times kept exactly, a voice that is heard even when it goes soft, and a record the neurologist and the family both read. ExpressAgain's ALS and Parkinson's mode is live today, with the plain on and off words many people with Parkinson's use, and the medication times become a dose-due reminder for whoever is on shift.
What to do this week
Choose the ALS and Parkinson's mode
Its phrases open first in the Phrase Library and at the top of Communicate: it's time for my medicine, my medicine is wearing off, I'm on now, I'm off now; I'm freezing and can't move my feet; my hands are shaking; help me stand. Phrases are spoken clearly at full volume, and the large-button layout is there for a tremor.
Where it lives: Phrase Library · Read how it works
Put the medication times in exactly
On Prescriptions, open each medication's Dose and schedule and add the clock times from the label, or every so many hours from the first dose. When a set is due, a pop-up asks whoever is on shift to log it, and phones get a reminder that never names the medicine. ExpressAgain reminds; it does not decide when a medicine is taken.
Where it lives: Prescriptions, Dose and schedule · Read how it works
Put every doctor on the Care Team page
One card per person: a name, a role and a phone number to tap and call. A card has no login; when a clinician should read the record, Give access turns the card into a login with a single-use code for that discipline, and the person joins at the IDC Team sign-in.
Where it lives: Care Team page · Read how it works
Start the care plan
Choose Set up the patient's care: a few questions, one per screen, saved as you answer. The answers decide which parts of the plan are needed now, open the pages where they live, and become the patient's plan at the top of the menu.
Where it lives: Getting started, Set up the patient's care · Read how it works
Today: the Parkinson's phrases first, the medication times as a reminder, the neurologist on one page and the plan started.
How to start
Create a free account: your name, email, a password and who the app is for, with the patient's name. Communicating is never behind a paywall, so nothing on this page waits on a card.
The first time you sign in, choose Set up the patient's care or Start talking now: a few questions, one per screen, saved as you answer, that open the right pages first and become the patient's plan.
From My People, tap Invite family and friends: each person gets a personal link that works once and a role (full access, family, or extended). On the Care Team page, add every doctor as a card to tap and call.
Read next
- Just got the diagnosis? Here's what to do next.
- Home care, home health, hospice or palliative care? What each one means, and when you need it.
- Do you really need a caregiver, or do you need a nurse?
- How to choose the right care provider for your loved one.
- How to build a care schedule for your parent or loved one.
- The tools and equipment you'll actually need to care for someone at home.
- How to coordinate family visits without overwhelming anyone.
- Caregiver burnout is real. Here's how to protect yourself.
Questions people ask
Why is there one mode for ALS and Parkinson's?
Both weaken the speech muscles, so the library covers what they share: needs right now, breathing support, moving and the body, medicine timing, eating and swallowing, talking and the voice, and the person's own decisions. The ALS and Parkinson's phrases article lists the groups.
The patient's voice has gone quiet. Can the app help with that?
Yes. Tap a phrase and the app speaks it clearly at full volume, and the cloned voice, recorded while speaking is still comfortable, keeps the patient sounding like themselves. The blog's guide to the Parkinson's soft voice covers the tools.
Can the family keep track of on and off times?
Health Tracking logs symptoms and events with the time and who logged them, and the dose log shows each dose as given, skipped or late, so the neurologist can see timing and symptoms side by side on the printed sheet.
Is it free to start?
Yes. Free is where everyone starts, and communicating is never behind a paywall: tap to speak, the phrase boards, the sentence builder, Letters, the Phrase Library, lessons, Games and Play, the emergency screen, the Emergency Plan Card and the built-in voice. Free also invites 2 family members to the Family and Friends Feed. The Pricing page shows the plans side by side.
What happens after I sign up?
Sign up asks for your name, email and a password, and who the app is for. Then the guided setup takes four short steps: who the app is for and the condition mode, text and button sizes, a voice and the first people, then a review. Entering the patient's name and date of birth pins the two phrases hospitals ask for constantly.