“My daughter recently got diagnosed with t1dm and this is the best app I’ve found. Everything is extremely well thought out and it is super responsive. The app works with a bunch of different CGMs and pumps. This app was able to add an ever-changing calendar event to iCal so I can easily see BG [readings] using the dexcom follow app.” – Benjiak
The first responsibility of parents and guardians is to keep their children safe. For the guardians or parents of a child with T1D, keeping them safe means additional responsibilities.
A good diabetes management app is one of many ways we can help children with diabetes safely manage blood glucose levels.
Unfortunately, many diabetes management apps are a little complex for younger minds. But Gluroo has been specifically designed for parents and the children they care for. Younger children are guided by the simple and familiarly formatted home page. Older children and caregivers can take advantage of multiple additional, more advanced features.
The free Gluroo app brings together anyone responsible for your child’s care. So why are so many parents raving about Gluroo? Let’s find out.
The Importance of a Diabetes Management App
Diabetes management has come a very long way in recent years. We now have access to extra-rapid working insulins that lower blood glucose levels within minutes. On the other side of the scale, new longer-working insulins help keep blood glucose levels stable for more than 24 hours at a time.
The same goes for glucose monitoring devices. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and flash glucose monitoring take away the unpleasant need for constant finger stick testing and store large amounts of important data.
In the digital age, we transfer vital CGM data to our phones for detailed real-time blood sugar curves. Or we pair insulin pumps to CGMs so they can automatically administer the correct doses.
The icing on the cake is a good diabetes management app that manages and stores essential data on an easy-to-understand screen, and provides in-depth information, helpful tips, accurate calculations, collaboration, integration, and a responsive online community.
For children with type 1 diabetes, a high-quality diabetes management app makes good glucose control a lot simpler. It helps them get to grips with diabetes management with less effort. The best diabetes management apps for children encourage and reward young minds and prepare them for self-management.
For the guardians and parents of a child with T1D, the right diabetes management app provides peace of mind. In-app data sharing allows adults to manage insulin therapy for younger children and ensure that older children taking their first steps in self-management stay safe. App-based caretaker education allows parents to pass on diabetes knowledge to their children in an age-appropriate way.
Finally, for the diabetes care team responsible for your child, an advanced diabetes management app provides essential, detailed data that helps them find the best, individualized diabetes therapy.
Why Parents Love Gluroo for Diabetes Management
Parents appreciate Gluroo’s diabetes management app because it ticks every box.
Easy to use, with a unique, user-friendly, and familiar format, the Gluroo app:
- Collects and stores important data.
- Shares data with caretakers and healthcare teams.
- Integrates with a broad range of popular CGMs and even the most commonly used insulin pumps and software.
- Encourages good glucose control without being overbearing or complex.
Let’s take a closer look at exactly why Gluroo’s diabetes management app is the right choice for you and your child with insulin-dependent diabetes.
1. Collaboration
Whether you’re responsible for a very young child or teenager, keeping them safe is a full-time job.
As children with type 1 diabetes get older, they must understand the ins and outs of good glucose control. Only with an understanding of diabetes can a child successfully self-manage his or her insulin therapy.
Letting go of the diabetes management reins can be terrifying for any parent. But sending your child to camp or letting your older teenager take a vacation abroad doesn’t have to mean letting those reins go – thanks to Gluroo’s GluCrew collaboration feature.
When the Gluroo app is installed on your child’s Android or iOS smartphone, you set up an individualized profile. Once this has been done, GluCrew invites can be sent to anyone who plays a role in your child’s diabetes management. Think of parents and guardians, clinicians, the school nurse, a summer camp staff member, grandparents, and older friends, for example. Together, this selected group has continuous access to your child’s real-time diabetes data.
As T1D runs in families, you might have more than one child on insulin therapy. With Gluroo, you can safeguard multiple children with diabetes. Each Gluroo profile can invite a personally selected ‘crew’ to download the app and keep tabs on one or more children’s diabetes-related information. Invited members can accept multiple invitations from different profiles.
To invite people to become part of your child’s GluCrew, simply navigate to the GluCrew menu and tap “Invite new crew member”. Forward a QR code, send a direct link, or have Gluroo email an invitation. Naturally, any new GluCrew member will have to install the free Gluroo app.
2. Chat-Based Logging
The point of diabetes logging is to gain deeper insights into how an individual responds to meals, insulin doses, exercise, and many other variables. Every person with diabetes reacts a little differently – there’s no ‘one size fits all’.
Gluroo goes much more than the extra mile when it comes to logging. Anyone in the GluCrew can type in when a new insulin vial is started or log the code and lot number of a new CGM sensor, for example.
But this isn’t the main reason why parents (and children) appreciate Gluroo. The brainchild of the parent of a child with T1D, Gluroo’s home screen is designed to be extremely recognizable.
Every new device, meal announcement, low blood sugar intervention, and plain-text encouragement is shown as a chat message. Your child (or you and other GluCrew members) input data in the same way as you would write a message. It’s a very familiar format that most children know exactly how to use with very little training.
Gluroo’s unique chat format is also extremely recognizable for any tech-unsavvy parent, guardian or GluCrew member. In short, anyone with a smartphone can learn to use Gluroo in a matter of minutes.
So how does logging work?
Easy. Just type in what you want to log using Gluroo shorthand. Examples might be:
- “20m high workout”: a 20-minute burst of high-intensity exercise.
- “20g veggie burger salad”: 20 grams of carbs which is then automatically added to the daily carb total and carbs on board (carbs currently available for digestion) feature on the home screen.
- “4oz aj”: 4 ounces of apple juice that initiates an in-app calculation of 2g/oz of carbs which is automatically added to the daily carb calculator and carbs on board feature.
- “fp 110”: finger prick test result of 110 mg/dL (can be changed to mmol/L).
Integrated text recognition also means the app can understand and adjust recorded data. For example, if you type “Dosed 2u 20m ago” (shorthand for a 2-unit insulin bolus administered 20 minutes before logging this event), text recognition will adjust this message to “Dosed 2u” at the actual time the dose was given. You’ll also see a little clock icon on the message indicating that the time of this logged event has been modified.
Every logged event comes up as a real-time chat-style message which every GluCrew member can see. The Gluroo app also takes part in this collaborative chat, sending reminders, encouragement, motivation and rewards – a great way to get all but the very youngest children involved in healthy diabetes management.
“Thank you so much for the awesome app. We love, love, love being able to see the insulin dosing in real time! Thank you for helping to keep this sleep deprived momma on top of things!” – Michelle F.
3. Diabetes Device Integration
When a diabetes management app integrates with other devices like CGMs and insulin pumps, it makes life with diabetes even easier.
To date, no app can completely take over every aspect of diabetes management. But then, no CGM can be relied on to fully replace finger stick tests, and no insulin pump can be completely trusted to make its own adjustments (yet).
But even partial dependence on automated insulin delivery systems (closed-loop and hybrid insulin pumps) and CGMs frees up a huge amount of time. A diabetes management app that integrates with these devices is a godsend.
To date, Gluroo integrates with the most popular CGM models – the Dexcom G6, Dexcom G7, Freestyle Libre 2 and Freestyle Libre 3. Gluroo’s logging capabilities mean you can scan the UPC code to add a chat-like text that logs the new sensor. If you can’t scan with your phone camera, a sensor can be logged manually.
The Gluroo app integrates with the popular Omnipod 5, Omnipod DASH, and open-source Loop software. All collected data is shown in the GluCrew chat. Associated in-app calculations are made based on these recorded glucose measurements and doses, logging data, and personalized metrics like body weight, age, and insulin sensitivity levels.
For parents and guardians more experienced with open-source tech, Gluroo also integrates with Nightscout and xDrip+.
“Gluroo has been a Godsend in managing my daughter’s diabetes! I was so frustrated at not being able to view what her OP5 pump was doing while she was at school and what her IOB was when she was having lows there. Enter Gluroo and it has been a game changer with pumping and T1D management! If you want a better way to manage T1D and ease your worries of what is happening when you’re not with your little warrior, you need to get Gluroo!” – Jennifer M.
4. Non-Intrusive Alerts
Anyone who enables notifications on their smartphone probably uses the Do Not Disturb function or temporarily turns off notifications quite a lot. Many workplaces ban the use of personal phones because of the disruptive effect of social media, email and app notifications.
When using a diabetes management app, work rules and regulations must allow you to keep your phone close by. Even so, constant pings and vibrations disturb your working environment and your colleagues.
And it’s unlikely you will appreciate a simple snack log notification when you’re in the shower or having an early night.
At the same time, turning off diabetes management app notifications is not an option. You can’t take that risk.
Gluroo’s non-intrusive alert system gives caretakers the best of both worlds.
Only the profile owner – the PWD – receives a blood glucose level push notification the first time around. As a push notification, any alert can be seen on the phone screen without needing to open the app.
This scalable solution means that the person with diabetes is given an opportunity to rectify high or low blood glucose levels before the entire GluCrew is alerted – your child’s first step toward self-management.
If your child eats a couple of sweets and logs them after receiving a going low notification, GluCrew members will see that log when they open the app and can relax. Only when nothing is done to improve abnormal glucose results will GluCrew members be notified. This second alert occurs within a few short minutes of the first when no action is logged by the PWD. GluCrew push notifications only consist of important and actionable issues.
This means you won’t be alerted to every logging text, reminder or motivational nudge. You can see these in chat form when you open the app but won’t be alerted to them. In other words, there’s no alarm fatigue with Gluroo.
“This app allows you to follow your kiddo’s insulin dosing on your end in live time. I get a notification every time my kid boluses for a meal. I love this app! Life changing!” – Lisa B.
5. Motivational Nudges & Achievements
When your child manages a hypo or corrects hyperglycemia, there’s a huge sense of achievement. This feeling helps encourage PWD along their personal road to good diabetes management.
The Gluroo chat-like home screen has been designed to motivate its users, whatever age they might be. It sends positive messages when the right steps are taken toward stable glucose levels, and prompts users to act before glucose levels get too high or low. For younger children not yet able to act themselves, GluCrew members can check these messages on their own phones and take the necessary measures.
CGMs send loud and, for many children, accusatory alarms when results are out of target range. Gluroo motivational nudges, on the other hand, are a much gentler option. Their early timing helps prevent too high or low glucose levels. In combination with Gluroo achievement messages, the user is encouraged to continue good diabetes management habits. Of course, by preventing hypos and hypers through gentle early warnings, loud and unfriendly CGM alarms can be avoided.
“I absolutely LOVE your Gluroo app, it ensures my daughter is safely using her pod to dose when I’m not around” – Lisa.
6. One App for Everything
When your child with diabetes uses Gluroo and you are part of his or her GluCrew, you don’t need any other app.
You don’t need to use a separate app for a CGM. You don’t need a meal-logging app. You don’t need a carbs-on-board calculation app. You don’t need an app to work out insulin doses.
That’s because Gluroo is a stand-alone app for diabetes management. Its high level of personalization allows users to input highly specific data to ensure in-app calculations are as accurate as possible. Text recognition and chat formatting make data input straightforward. Collaboration features are second to none.
So, with Gluroo, you’re assured a simple, fun, comprehensive diabetes management tool for the entire family.
“It has made tracking and seeing patterns so much better. It takes some of the stress of diabetes off my child. been looking for something like this since my child was diagnosed.” – Jolene S.
Final Thoughts
Not convinced that Gluroo is the best diabetes management app for you and your child?
Feel free to download the Gluroo app and discover how simple it is to use firsthand.
Gluroo and all its features are completely free. There’s no need to supply your credit card details, no obligation to buy, and no hidden costs.
Our team constantly rolls out new features and updates. Our plan here at Gluroo is to keep up with the latest automated insulin delivery and CGM technology, and to provide the ultimate app for user-friendly diabetes management.
We’re dedicated to continuously developing our all-in-one healthcare app that motivates kids with insulin-dependent diabetes and offers their parents and caretakers peace of mind.
Download the app today, and join an uplifting, reliable, and supportive environment for everyone involved in your child’s diabetes journey.
