Newly diagnosed: stroke
After a stroke, what to do first.
After a stroke, what to do first is build the record while the patient is still in the hospital, because the hardest day is not the stroke; it is the day the patient comes home. Speech may be affected by aphasia, apraxia or dysarthria and the discharge papers will land on the kitchen counter, so this week puts a voice in the patient's hands, every doctor and therapist on one page, and the homecoming plan in motion before the case manager asks.
What to do this week
A voice for the words that will not come
Choose Aphasia and Stroke in the setup and the core library opens first on Communicate: one tap says a phrase, Build a message puts a sentence together, Letters spells a word. The Emergency page says I need help now with one tap and keeps 911 one tap away.
Where it lives: Communicate page · 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
The medications, with every change the doctors order
Prescriptions keeps every medication, allergy and pharmacy on one page. Each one keeps its history: started, increased, decreased, paused, resumed or stopped, with the day and who ordered it. Times from the label become a dose-due pop-up for whoever is on shift. The app records what was ordered; it does not check or suggest doses.
Where it lives: Prescriptions, on the Medical page · Read how it works
Plan the homecoming now, not on discharge day
Coming Home holds the checklists for the discharge conversation, and the therapy team's home recommendations arrive there from their own dashboard, each marked Done, In progress or Need help, so the house is ready before the car pulls in.
Where it lives: Coming Home page · Read how it works
Today: a voice with one tap, the doctors and therapists on one page, the medications with their history, and the Coming Home checklists.
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
The patient understands everything but cannot get the words out. Is that aphasia?
It may be aphasia, apraxia of speech, dysarthria or a mix, and the speech-language pathologist can say which. The app's tools work for each: tapping a phrase, building a sentence or spelling a word on Letters. The blog's Apraxia of speech after a stroke explains the difference.
How do the therapists' recommendations reach the family?
A physical, occupational or speech therapist who joins with a code files home recommendations from their dashboard; they land on the family's Coming Home page, each marked Done, In progress or Need help, and the exercises they assign appear on the patient's Practice page.
Can the family log blood pressure and the other readings the doctors ask about?
Yes. Health Tracking is the family's bedside chart: blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen, weight, sleep, symptoms and meals, each entry with the name of who logged it, with Print for the next appointment. It records and displays; it never judges a value.
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.