A PIONEERING new smartphone app is set to transform the lives of Keighley-district carers and those they look after.

And a fundraising campaign has been launched to make the ground-breaking technology, developed locally, widely available.

App4Care features seven special functions enabling the carer and their loved one to keep in constant contact.

There is also a panic alert facility, a sensor which detects a trip or fall, a task list to ensure correct medication is taken at the right times and a warning mechanism which activates should the person leave a pre-programmed 'safe zone'.

Riddlesden charity volunteer, Phil Kirtley, says the app will provide massive reassurance to the growing number of carers looking after loved ones with Alzheimer’s.

The 82-year-old spent years caring for his wife, Jean, who suffered increasingly with the condition.

"The illness slowly took over her life – and mine,” said Mr Kirtley.

"We used to go out for rides in the car but in the end she largely refused to get out of bed.

“She had become very frail as a result of the disease and there was many a time I feared I would find her in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

“This app, and the functions it has, would have equipped me with ultimate peace of mind. It would have provided much-needed reassurance that when I went out shopping for example, I knew I would be alerted if anything wasn't OK.

"Whether it was an alarm to let me know she had tripped and set off the fall sensor, or just to let me know that she was hungry or thirsty, it would have been a real asset."

The app has been developed – with the help of Airedale carers – by social enterprise Apt Choices, which was set up by the Carers' Resource charity.

David Harbourne, chairman of the Shipley-based Carers’ Resource, said: "This is a home-grown innovation that promises to revolutionise the way in which the one-in-seven of us who are carers look after a loved one – whether it be a family member, friend or neighbour.

"The suite of functions is unique – designed by carers, for carers. In a range of different ways, it helps those people who can't be together all the time but who worry around-the-clock.

"App4Care provides ultimate peace of mind for everyday concerns such as if a loved one has an accident or panic attack while the carer is out shopping, or has a trip or fall when the carer is at work or – increasingly given the rise in the number of young carers looking after a parent – at school."

Efforts are now underway to raise the £55,000 in pledges needed to bring the innovation to market, with a customer support service.

Pledges can be made until December 12.

Visit App4Care.com for further information.