Portal for Children of Aging Parents

Online resource for children of aging parents.

Designer and Engineer

Ric Mershon

Background

After three years of experience managing the care of my elderly parents I've been unable to find a single resource for the caregivers of elderly that addresses all the issues for caregivers.

'Yelp' for caregivers.

See the project markdown for more information.

Accessing the Application

Got to https://rmersh-express-mongo-example.herokuapp.com/.

Notable Features

1. Built with Node.js backend tools.
2. Uses a central server file, server.js, as an entry point for the applications. Defines all the dependencies, configuration, middleware, database opertaions and controllers needed for the app to run. Defines the root route and sets up the listener for the html port.
3. Relational model between caregivers and reviews.
4. Uses public folder for css and images.
5. Uses partials for head, nav and footer elements.
6. Incorporates a mobile first and responsive design using Bootstrap.
7. Sticky menu bar.

MongoDB Schemas

There are schemas for caregivers, users and reviews.

Caregiver Schema

const careGiverSchema = mongoose.Schema(
    {
        name: { type: String, required: true },
        location: { type: String, required: false },
        email: { type: String, required: false },
        phone: { type: String, required: false },
        webSite: String,
        contact: {
            firstName: String,
            lastName: String,
        },
        description: { type: String, required: true },
        takingNewClients: { type: Boolean, default: false },
        services: Array,
        rating: { type: Number, max: 5 },
        reviews : [ Review.schema ]
    },
    { timestamps: true }
);

Reviews Schema

const reviewSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
    {
        text: String,
        postedBy: String,
        rating: { type: Number, max: 5 }
    }
)

Users Schema

const userSchema = new Schema({
    username: { type: String, unique: true, required: true },
    password: String
})

Routes

There are routes for caregivers, reviews, sessions and users.

Caregivers Routes

Action	URL	HTTP Verb	Description
Index	/caregivers	GET	Displays all caregivers
New	/caregivers/new	GET	Displays new caregiver form
Create	/caregivers	POST	Creates new caregiver
Show	/caregivers/:id	GET	Shows an individual caregiver's information
Edit	/caregivers/:id/edit	GET	Displays the edit caregiver form
Update	/caregivers/:id	PUT	Changes caregiver with info from Edit action
Destroy	/caregivers/:id	DELETE	Deletes a caregiver

Additional Routes for Setup and Reset

Action	URL	HTTP Verb	Description
Seed	/caregivers/seed	GET	Seeds database
Remove	/caregivers/remove	GET	Resets database

Reviews Routes

Action	URL	HTTP Verb	Description
New	/caregivers/:id/reviews/new	GET	Display review form
Create	/caregivers/:id/reviews	POST	Creates new review

User Routes

Action	URL	HTTP Verb	Description
New	/users/new	GET	Displays new user form
Create	/users	POST	Creates new user

Session Routes

Action	URL	HTTP Verb	Description
New	/sessions/new	GET	Displays login form
Create	/sessions	POST	Creates new session after successful login
Destroy	/sessions	DELETE	Logs user out and deletes session

Layout Details and Approach

Layout done with Bootstrap.

Partials

Several partials are used:

• head.ejs - for the head of all ejs/html files.
• nav.ejs - for the dynamic navigation bar. Changes based on session state.
• footer.ejs - for the footer, which still needs work.

Technologies used:

• Express - backend framework for Node.js.
• method-override - to use HTTP verbs PUT and DELETE where not otherwise supported by the client.
• MongoDB - a general purpose, document-based, distributed database.
• Mongoose - MongoDB object modeling for Node.js.
• express-session - middleware for creating sessions.
• dotenv - for loading environment variables from a .env file into process.env.
• Bootstrap - for a responsive, mobile-first layout.

Known Issues

• Proper handling of failed logins.
• .env issues.
• Review routes in a separate file.

Additional Functionality/Routes/User Types

• User
• Care manager
• Care provider
• Events
• Blog entries
• living communities
• Law issues
• Financial issues
• Moving services
• News related to seniors
• Doctors
• Newsletter
• Message board

Areas for Improvement

• Clean up footer.
• General navigation.
• A lot of additional functionality.
• Would like to understand better how to incorporate code into objects.

Acknowledgements

Thanks Brendan!