Saturday, October 12, 2013

Apps For Social Workers/Therapists

  • Waze (free)This is a must have if you do home visits.  It is my favorite GPS app and it finds you the fastest routs and alerts you to hazards/police/weather .
  • Dropbox (free)Dropbox lets you share documents among all of your devices and is an easy way to share files with others.
  • Evernote (free): Evernote is an electronic organizer that allows you to take nots and save web pages, photos, research, articles, etc. It is not HIPPA-compliant so refrain from using for client notes.
  • The Square and Paypal: 
  • Social Work Helper (free): This app provides up to date social work related information.
  • GoogleVoice (free)Google voice lets you create a second phone number/work line for your phone.  This is great if you need to call clients while you are in the field but do not want to disclose your actual cell phone number.
  • Line2 (free):  This app lets you have a separate phone line.  You can port your office number to it, and stop carrying two cell phones. While downloading the app is free, the second phone line costs $9.95/month.
  • Card Munch (free): CardMunch allows you to snap photos of a colleague’s business card and convert it to a digital one which it stores in your contacts.  It also synchs with LinkedIn.
  • Remind 101 (free): This app was created for teachers but would be useful for social workers who want to text clients reminders without disclosing their number.
  • PsychDrugs (free)When a client brings up a medication you aren’t familiar with this is a quick way to determine what they are being prescribed.
  • IbisMail ($3.99): This program allows you to set up automatic filters, so you can sort through mail.  But it also allows you to set up folders for client emails, so that you can have them all in one place.  Then it is up to you to decide when you review your patient communications, rather than have everything coming through one inbox.  Supports multiple email accounts.
  • GoToMeeting (free): This is a good app for therapists who want to do online sessions.  It has both desktop and app versions of videoconferencing software, which is HIPAA-compliant.  
  • iAnnotate ($9.99): iAnnotate allows you to mark up .pdf files on your mobile device.  It also supports highlighting and annotating research articles and synchs with Mendeley and Dropbox so you can store your research library with notes online.
  • Mendeley (free): One part social network, one part research library,  Mendeley allows you to store research articles and annotations online and on your device.  It allows you to network with other colleagues to see what they are researching, share articles, and store all of your articles in one place.  Often it can even pull up the bibliographic entry from the web just by reading the .pdf metatag
  • Paypal (free): This is one option for billing clients and paying vendors.  You can invoice by email, transfer money to your bank account, and keep track of online payments on the website. There is usually a small transaction fee but if your client initiates a direct transfer to you then you can get around that. They recently came out with a credit card reader.
  • Square (free): When you register with Square they send you a free credit card reader that you can connect to your smart phone or tablet.  They charge a 2.75% transaction fee.
  • Google Translate (free): It’s good to have a translation tool handy.  It even translates speech.
  • The Savvy Social Worker (free): This app was created by the UB School of Social Work to help social workers stay current with new developments in best practices.
  • Psychological First Aid Tutorial (free): This is a review for previously changed health professionals.
  • Prezi (free): This presentation software allows you to create dynamic visual presentations on your computer or mobile device.  Prezi supports importation from powerpoint, and provides free online hosting of your prezis as well as tons of templates and tutorials.  You can also upload Prezis to your LinkedIn profile.  They look really cool so check out their website for examples.
  • TED (free): This app allows you to stay inspired and experience innovation daily, by beaming TED talks to your mobile device from the offical TED site.  You can favorite, search, and share your favorite ones, or hit “Inspire me” for random ideas.
  • CamScanner (free):  This ap turns your phone into a portable scanner and would be useful for child welfare social workers who often have to make copies of client documents/paperwork.
  • Co-Occuring Conditions Toolkit (free): A quick reference when treating patients presenting with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and common co-morbid conditions.
  • Narrative Therapy QuestionsThis app is interactive and demonstrates narrative therapy questions.
  • 101 Theory ($1.99): This is a social work theory app that contains over 101 theories for practitioners.It allows you to quickly conduct a search and find a description as well as an overview of whatever theory you want to know more about.
Apps for Adult Clients (and clinician self-care)
  • Unfrazzle (free)This is an ap for caregivers that helps them keep track of their day-to-day tasks, and appointments.  They can set remindser and share tasks with others.
  • PTSD Coach (free): Mobile app created by the Department of Veteran Affairs to track PTSD symptoms and provide information and support to sufferers.  Review from a follower: “I can’t speak highly enough of this app, it’s been an instrumental tool in my recovery from PTSD.  It prompts you to do a variety of exercises and activities, allows you to rate the severity of the symptom and makes suggestions based on how severe the symptom is.  It’s very easy to use and I frankly can’t imagine not having it.”
  • PTSD Connect: This app aims to connect people with PTSD to accessible information and support.
  • CBTReferee ($4.99): A useful tool for clients in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to keep track of their thoughts and become their own “referee.”
  • eCBTCalm ($.99): CBT Calm helps people who are feeling stressed and want to learn relaxation skills. It assesses your stress level, provides relaxation skills, and also includes links to online resources for stress and anxiety.
  • Micromedex (free): Keeping up-to-date on medications is pretty daunting, but this app, with frequent updates, helps you keep track od a medication, its Black Box warnings, contraindications, drug interactions, adverse effects, alternate names, standard dosages and more.
  • Unstuck (free): Unstuck is an ipad app for personal growth, designed to kick-start success for specific kinds of stuck moments
  • DBT Diary Card and Skills Coach ($4.99): THis is a DBT resource manual that provides an easy way to fill out diary cards.
  • eMoods Mood Tracker ($1.99)This ap lets clients track their moods, medication, triggers, etc.
  • Live Happy ($.99): This is a strengths-based ap that draws on principals of positive psychology.  It helps clients to engage in coping tools, exploration and mindfulness.
  • GPS For The Soul (free): This app helps you track and self-regulate your stress.
  • My Pain Diary ($4.99): This is an award-winning app that helps clients manage chronic pain.
  • Gothere ($4.99)This ap provides directions and compares cost and travel time between driving and taking a bus, train or taxi.  There is a free Safari version of this ap.
  • One Love Lite (free): This app helps people detect abusive patterns in their relationship and aids in seeking professional assistance.  Remember that having this kind of app on ones own phone can be dangerous for someone in a current abusive relationship.  
  • Circle Of 6 (free): This app connects abuse victims who are not currently in abusive relationships with a circle of support.
  • Intend (free): The change reminder app for people who are working to create positive change in their lives.
  • Happier (free): This app encourages people to reflect and share a few happy moments each day.
Apps for Child Clients
  • Don’t Feed The Worry Bug ($2.99)This is an interactive story book from the Worry Woos collection that helps kids learn how to manage their anxiety.
  • Calm Counter ($2.99): This is a social story and anger management tool for children with special needs that helps them choose different calm down strategies.
  • The Sesame Street Incarceration App (free): This app provides parents and caregivers with tools to help children ages 3-8 cope with the many transitions related to a parent’s incarceration.
  • Sesame Street For Military Families (free): The Sesame Street for Military Families app puts all of Sesame’s bilingual (English & Spanish) resources for military families right in one place.
This list was compiled from apps featured in a number of articles, on pinterest  and in my phone.  I have not tried many of these apps personally so do your research before downloading.  To view the source articles click hereherehere, and here.  Does anyone have any favorite apps they want to share?


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