Beleaguered caregivers getting help from apps Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 1:49 pm, Sunday, April 21, 2013 NEW YORK (AP) — As her mother and father edged toward dementia, Nancy D'Auria kept a piece of paper in her wallet listing their medications. From GPS devices and computer programs that help relatives track a wandering Alzheimer's patient to iPad apps that help an autistic child communicate, a growing number of tools for the smartphone, the tablet and the laptop are catering to beleaguered caregivers. The app also includes sections for caregiving tips, notes for the doctor and the patient's appointments, plus a "learning section" with articles on aspects of Alzheimer's and an RSS feed for news about the disease. Mended Hearts, an organization of heart patients and their caregivers, is about to start a program to reach caregivers by texting tips to their phones. Lisa Goring, vice president of Autism Speaks, said tablets have been a boon to families with autistic children. [...] the Autism Speaks website lists hundreds of programs — from Angry Birds to Autism Language Learning — that families have found useful. CareFamily, which prescreens in-home caregivers and matches them to customers over the Internet, has online tools that let a family remotely monitor a caregiver's attendance, provide reminders about medications and appointments, and exchange care plans and notes via email, texting or phone. When you're looking at people impacted by Alzheimer's disease, including some caregivers, you're looking at an older population that might not be comfortable.