The Secure Start AURA app

AURA – Daily Support for Caregivers

AURA is a simple, gentle app designed to support caregivers with the everyday work of providing safe, responsive, and emotionally attuned care.

Built around evidence-informed principles, AURA helps carers stay focused on small, meaningful actions each day — without complexity, data overload, or intrusive tracking.


What is AURA?

AURA is a daily companion for carers, foster carers, kinship carers, and residential staff.
It provides:

  • Clear daily prompts
  • A simple way to reflect on how the day went
  • Private, local-only record keeping
  • Optional progress summaries over time

AURA is not a diagnostic tool and does not provide clinical advice. It is designed to support reflection, consistency, and intentional caregiving.


How AURA Works

Daily Tasks

Each day, AURA presents a small set of supportive caregiving actions.
Tasks can be marked as Done or Skipped — there is no penalty or judgement.

Daily Rating

At the end of the day, users can record a simple rating (for example, from Very bad to Very good) to reflect how the day felt overall.

Optional Notes

Users may add a brief note for the day if they wish. Notes are optional and entirely private.

Progress Over Time

Weekly and monthly summaries help users notice patterns and relationships between:

  • Consistency of caregiving actions
  • Overall sense of how days are going

Notifications (Optional)

AURA can send gentle local reminders on your device:

  • Morning reminder
  • Afternoon reminder
  • Evening prompt to reflect and rate the day

Notifications are optional and can be turned on or off at any time via iOS settings.


Privacy-First by Design

AURA is built with privacy as a core principle.

  • No accounts or login required
  • No cloud storage
  • No data is sent to external servers
  • No analytics or advertising trackers

All data entered into AURA is stored locally on your device only.

You are always in control of your information.


Data Export and Deletion

Users can:

  • Export their data as a CSV file at any time
  • Clear notes or entries
  • Reset or delete all locally stored data from within the app

If the app is deleted, all stored data is removed from the device.


Who Is AURA For?

AURA is designed for:

  • Foster carers
  • Kinship carers
  • Residential care staff
  • Parents and caregivers supporting children with additional emotional or relational needs
  • Professionals who value reflective, relationship-based care

What AURA Is Not

  • Not a monitoring or surveillance tool
  • Not a clinical assessment or diagnostic app
  • Not a replacement for supervision, therapy, or professional judgement

AURA supports awareness and reflection — it does not evaluate performance.


Availability

AURA is available on iPhone (iOS) via the Apple App Store.
It is currently being released in stages, including TestFlight pilot use.


About the Developer

AURA is developed by Colby Pearce, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Secure Start.

Secure Start focuses on attachment-informed, trauma-aware approaches to supporting children, caregivers, and systems of care.


Support and Contact

For questions, feedback, or support:

  • Contact: colby@securestart.com.au