Health Uncomplicated: Getting a Deeper Understanding of Symptoms by Capturing Symptom Flares
Flare tracking for rare and chronic conditions, using Myasthenia Gravis flare experiences as an example
What is a Flare?
A flare is when symptoms temporarily increase in number or intensity, and can last anywhere from a few days to weeks. (1) When managing a complex or chronic condition, it is important to pay attention to these atypical events since flares often come quickly with or without a trigger and can be difficult to cope with. (2)
My flares happen randomly, when should I track them?
Because tracking a flare is as simple as clicking the “Add Flare” button on the Folia Platform, flares can be recorded whenever is easiest for you. This can be while a flare event is happening, or after the fact.
Additionally, you can go back and edit flare events if something more happens between the time you note the event and the end of the day.
How does Folia’s smart technology help me manage my symptoms?
Once you track your observations for the day, Folia will prompt you for possible flares based on this information. If this is the case, you will have instructions pop up in-app to walk you through the prompts.
What information is captured through Flare Tracking?
The built in Flare Form is designed to help you note more information about the flare event, including a description, how you managed it, any possible triggers, and more. You have increased flexibility in noting these flares by utilizing descriptive tags.
We know that flares can vary from condition to condition, so we tried to customize the questions you answer to match your lived experience within your condition. This acts as a starting point for capturing your flares. You can further customize this experience on the Folia platform.
For certain conditions, there might be different types of flares that you would want to track. Accordingly, there are different versions of the flare form that are condition-specific, which will automatically pop up for you to choose based on the diagnosis and conditions you have set up in your Folia profile.
Custom Flare Reports
Once I have all of this information collected, how can I actually use it?
We are a startup! And because of this, we have the flexibility to help you create a report that is truly meaningful to you.
On the Folia platform, you always have access to Simple Reports, Appointment Guides, and our graphing functions. Right now, we are working on building a specific Flare Report, and while we do that, we can help you build a customized Flare Report that is right for you.
Maybe you are utilizing the tag function and want to visualize that, or maybe you are curious to gain insights from the graphs that show the duration or frequency of flares. Either way, we can help you gather this information and help you learn from it.
Additional comments or questions? The Folia Team is here to help!