Soyogi Home Care Guide

介護と支援の相談どころ　そよぎ

About this app

Soyogi Home Care Guide is a completely free caregiving guide for people looking after a family member at home. From transfers, repositioning, changing diapers, help with eating and mouth care, to bathing and watching over walking, it explains the everyday skills and knowledge of care in plain words and clear, word-free illustrations, one careful step at a time.

Family caregiving can begin overnight, with no time to prepare. A parent falls ill; a partner comes home from the hospital. With no time to be taught and no one nearby to ask, you become the one who supports them, starting today. This app is a gentle companion for that very first experience of care.

It was built on two foundations: the hands-on wisdom of a certified care worker with years of field experience, and publicly available care knowledge. It is made so that a family member with no training can use it with confidence from day one. At the same time, it is useful as a quick reference for professional care staff too.

■Techniques
Beginning with the body mechanics that protect your back, it covers rolling over, sitting up, standing and transferring to a wheelchair, diaper changes, a posture for eating without choking, mouth care, dressing, bed baths and bathing, watching over walking and preventing falls, and even care on a floor futon. Thirteen categories and 147 steps in all. One step per screen, with figures drawn in true human proportions, so you can move forward calmly, checking each step as you go. Gentle notes for people with paralysis or joint contractures are added to many of the procedures.

■When something goes wrong
Choking, falls, fever and dehydration, pressure sores, and the signs of stroke (FAST). For each one, the app lays out what you may see, what to do first, when to seek advice early, and when to call an ambulance without hesitation, in plain and reassuring words. For moments when a person does not respond, it also includes how to give chest compressions (CPR), with a built-in metronome that keeps the correct pace of 100 to 120 per minute right there beside you.

■Protecting yourself
If the caregiver collapses, the care cannot continue. The app looks after you too: ways to use your body without hurting your back, how to rest instead of carrying everything alone, where to find local consultation services and professionals, and the reminder that you do not have to aim for perfection. Protecting your own body and heart is one of the central themes of this app.

■For families around the world (12 languages)
Available in Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Korean, Chinese, and Arabic. Because the illustrations are line drawings that do not rely on words, the movements come across in any language. Even right-to-left languages such as Arabic are fully supported, with the whole screen mirrored so it reads correctly.

■Made to fit you
Three text sizes (normal, large, extra large). Your choice of screen color (green or blue) and quiet, calming background music. It also responds to a long, firm press, so it stays easy to tap even for hands that do not move freely.

■Private by design
Completely free, ad-free, and no registration. It never asks for your name or email address. It works offline, so once opened it can be used anywhere, even at night or where there is no signal, and nothing you enter or do ever leaves your device.

This app is provided free of charge as a public good by Soyogi, a care and support counseling service in Japan. We believe that knowledge of care should never be blocked by money or a lack of information.

Everyone's body and illness are different. When a doctor, nurse, or rehabilitation or care professional gives you personal guidance, please follow that first.

What’s new

Modify functions according to feedback.