ElderCare Connect

Health

Original Idea

Aging Parent Care Hub A cross-platform app that shares meds, appointments, and urgent contacts across the family.

Product Requirements Document (PRD): ElderCare Connect

1. Executive Summary

ElderCare Connect is a cross-platform mobile ecosystem designed to bridge the coordination gap in elderly care. By centralizing medication management, medical appointments, and emergency protocols, the app synchronizes adult children, professional caregivers, and aging parents. Utilizing a 2026-standard "Offline-First" architecture and high-security HIPAA-compliant infrastructure, the platform ensures that critical health data is accessible even in low-connectivity environments and that emergency alerts are broadcasted with sub-two-second latency.

2. Problem Statement

Families managing the health of aging parents face "care fragmentation." Information regarding medication changes, specialist appointments, and daily wellness is often trapped in siloed text threads or paper logs. This leads to:

  • Medication Errors: Double-dosing or missed doses due to lack of a shared log.
  • Logistical Chaos: Missed appointments or conflicting schedules among caregivers.
  • Emergency Anxiety: The "What if?" fear of a parent falling or having a crisis without an immediate, reliable way to alert the entire care circle.

3. Goals & Success Metrics

  • Goal 1: Improve medication adherence for the aging parent.
    • Metric: % of medications marked as "Taken" vs. "Missed" per week (Target: >90% adherence).
  • Goal 2: Reduce family coordination stress.
    • Metric: Average number of "Care Circle" members actively viewing the app (Target: 3+ members per parent).
  • Goal 3: Ensure rapid emergency response.
    • Metric: SOS broadcast latency from trigger to handset delivery (Target: < 2.0 seconds).
  • Goal 4: Achieve high senior usability.
    • Metric: Successful "I'm OK" check-in completion rate (Target: 95% for users over 75).

4. User Personas

4.1. Sarah (The Primary Caregiver)

  • Profile: 45-year-old daughter, working professional.
  • Needs: To know if her father took his blood pressure meds and to see notes from his last cardiology visit without calling him daily.
  • Pain Points: Feeling guilty for not being there physically; constant "checking-in" calls that frustrate her father.

4.2. Henry (The Aging Parent)

  • Profile: 78-year-old, lives alone, early-stage Parkinson's.
  • Needs: Simple interface to confirm he is okay and to be reminded of his meds without feeling "watched."
  • Pain Points: Small buttons on apps, complex menus, forgetting if he took his morning pill.

4.3. Maria (The Professional In-Home Caregiver)

  • Profile: 30-year-old, visits Henry 3 times a week.
  • Needs: To log activities and see updates from Henry’s children regarding schedule changes.
  • Pain Points: Communicating with multiple siblings via different apps.

5. User Stories

  • As an adult child, I want to create a Care Circle so that I can invite my siblings to share the responsibility of monitoring our parent's health.
  • As an aging parent, I want a large "I'm OK" button so that I can reassure my family with a single tap every morning.
  • As a professional caregiver, I want to view a shared medical calendar so that I don't double-book a home visit with a doctor’s appointment.
  • As an aging parent, I want an SOS button that bypasses "Do Not Disturb" settings on my children's phones so that I can get help instantly if I fall.
  • As a family member, I want a secure vault for my parent’s DNR and insurance cards so that I have them ready during an ER visit.

6. Functional Requirements

6.1. Care Circle Management

  • Circle Creation: Ability to create a profile for an elderly parent and generate a secure 6-digit invite code.
  • Role-Based Access:
    • Admin (Family): Full control over all data and member management.
    • Contributor (Caregiver): Can view schedules and log meds but cannot access the Secure Vault (DNR/Legal).

6.2. Medication & Health Tracking

  • Shared Med Log: Real-time synchronization of doses. When Henry taps "Take," Sarah gets a silent notification.
  • Inventory Tracking: Automatic countdown of pill counts with "Low Supply" alerts.
  • Wellness Check-in: A daily scheduled prompt for the parent. If not cleared by a set time, the Circle is notified.

6.3. Emergency SOS System

  • Multi-Channel Broadcast: One-tap trigger sends Push (FCM), SMS (Twilio), and starts an automated Voice call to the Primary Admin.
  • Latency Standard: Must utilize "Now or Never" (TTL 0) push protocols to ensure sub-2s delivery.

6.4. Secure Document Vault

  • E2EE Storage: Documents (DNRs, Insurance) are encrypted on the device before upload to S3.
  • Break-Glass Access: Designated "Emergency Contacts" can view specific vault items only when an SOS is active.

7. Technical Requirements

7.1. Tech Stack (2026 Production Standards)

  • Frontend: React Native v0.83.1 using the New Architecture (Fabric/TurboModules) for synchronous rendering.
  • Framework: Expo SDK 55 for streamlined deployment and OTA updates.
  • Backend: Node.js v24.13.0 (Active LTS) for stable healthcare processing.
  • Database: PostgreSQL with PowerSync for robust offline-first data synchronization and RLS.
  • Auth: Auth0 with Fine-Grained Authorization (FGA) and mandatory Passkeys/Biometric MFA.
  • Infrastructure: AWS (HIPAA-eligible).
    • Data: AWS HealthLake (FHIR v4).
    • Storage: S3 with Client-Side Encryption.
    • AI: Amazon Bedrock (via PrivateLink) for medication interaction analysis (non-diagnostic).

7.2. Integrations

  • Twilio: For high-throughput Short Code SMS and Voice broadcasting.
  • FCM: HTTP v1 API for high-priority, non-collapsible push notifications.
  • Google/Apple Health: Two-way sync for heart rate and fall detection data.

8. Data Model

| Entity | Attributes | Relationships | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | User | userId, email, role, mfaEnabled, publicKey | Belongs to many CareCircles | | CareCircle | circleId, parentName, parentBio, inviteCode | Contains many Users, Meds, Appts | | Medication | medId, name, dosage, frequency, inventoryCount | Linked to circleId | | MedLog | logId, medId, actorId, timestamp, status | Linked to medId | | Appointment | apptId, title, dateTime, location, doctorInfo | Linked to circleId | | AuditLog | eventId, actionType, actorId, oldData, newData | JSONB for PHI tracking |

9. API Specification (Sample Endpoints)

9.1. POST /v1/sos/trigger

  • Description: Initiates emergency broadcast.
  • Request: { "circleId": "uuid", "lat": 40.7, "lng": -74.0 }
  • Response: 202 Accepted (Triggers Twilio and FCM parallel fan-out).

9.2. GET /v1/medications/{circleId}

  • Description: Fetches synced medication list for the circle.
  • Security: Requires OAuth2 scope patient/Medication.read.

10. UI/UX Requirements

  • Senior Mode (Henry):
    • Minimum touch target: 60x60 pixels.
    • High Contrast (minimum 4.5:1 ratio).
    • Support for 200% dynamic text scaling without layout clipping.
  • Caregiver Mode (Sarah/Maria):
    • Dashboard view showing "Last Activity" (e.g., "Henry took Lisinopril 22m ago").
    • Document scanner for capturing insurance cards.

11. Non-Functional Requirements

  • Security: TLS 1.3 only; FIPS 140-3 validated cryptographic modules.
  • Availability: 99.9% uptime for core health logging; 99.99% for SOS services.
  • Performance: Background sync battery drain < 3% per 24 hours on parent's device.
  • Accessibility: WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance.

12. Out of Scope

  • Direct messaging/chat between family members (use existing SMS/WhatsApp).
  • Ordering medications directly from the app (V1 focuses on tracking).
  • Professional medical advice or diagnosis.

13. Risks & Mitigations

  • Risk: Parent forgets phone or phone dies.
    • Mitigation: Wellness check-in alerts the family if the phone hasn't moved or checked in by 10 AM.
  • Risk: Data breach of sensitive health info.
    • Mitigation: Zero-knowledge vault architecture; Sarah holds the key, ElderCare Connect servers only see encrypted blobs.
  • Risk: Notification fatigue for adult children.
    • Mitigation: Granular notification settings (Mute "Taken" alerts, keep "Missed" and "SOS" active).

14. Implementation Tasks

Phase 1: Project Setup & Infrastructure

  • [ ] Initialize React Native v0.83.1 project with New Architecture enabled.
  • [ ] Configure Node.js v24.13.0 environment with TypeScript.
  • [ ] Set up PostgreSQL on AWS RDS with schemas for app and audit.
  • [ ] Establish AWS BAA (Business Associate Addendum) and configure KMS keys.
  • [ ] Implement Auth0 Organizations and FGA relationship logic.

Phase 2: Offline-First Data & Core Logic

  • [ ] Integrate PowerSync for PostgreSQL/React Native synchronization.
  • [ ] Build CareCircle creation and invitation flow.
  • [ ] Develop Medication CRUD with local SQLite storage for offline access.
  • [ ] Implement the "I'm OK" wellness check-in logic and background timer.

Phase 3: Emergency Systems

  • [ ] Configure Twilio Short Code service with Service Level 1 priority.
  • [ ] Implement FCM HTTP v1 with TTL: 0 and high-priority flags.
  • [ ] Build the "SOS" trigger UI with 3-second "cancel" countdown to prevent false alarms.
  • [ ] Integrate Apple HealthKit/Android Health Connect for automated fall detection triggers.

Phase 4: Security & Accessibility

  • [ ] Implement E2EE for Document Vault using react-native-keychain.
  • [ ] Build the senior-friendly UI components (60px targets, 200% scaling).
  • [ ] Set up Trigger-based JSONB audit logging for all PHI changes.
  • [ ] Perform HIPAA 2026 compliance audit and penetration testing.

Phase 5: Launch & Monitoring

  • [ ] Deploy Edge Functions for global load balancing to reduce ingestion latency.
  • [ ] Configure AWS Security Hub and GuardDuty for 24-hour breach monitoring.
  • [ ] Beta test with 10 caregiver/parent dyads.