Recovery Buddy: An Exercise Planner That Never Forgets the Disclaimer
Gentle home exercise ideas for stroke and mobility recovery-with safety warnings at every step.
The Moment That Mattered
Last month, my aunt sent me a photo of her mother-in-law sitting in a wheelchair. Please, what exercises can she do? She's been getting weaker since the stroke, but the physiotherapist only comes twice a month. The family wants to help but we don't know what's safe."
I froze. She was asking me-a CS student-for medical advice I wasn't qualified to give. But I understood the problem: caregivers in Anambra, in most of Nigeria, are stretched thin. Professional therapy is expensive. Families want to help their loved ones recover, but fear making things worse.
I couldn't write her back with exercises. That would be reckless. But I could build something that connected her question to safe, general guidance while screaming "THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE" at every turn.
What It Does, Who It's For
Recovery Buddy helps family caregivers explore gentle home exercise ideas for stroke and mobility recovery. You select the patient's current mobility level (bed-bound, can sit, can stand with support, etc.), add optional context like "weakness on left side," and it generates a sample routine.
It's for caregivers like my aunt-not medical professionals, just people trying their best with limited resources.
It is NOT a replacement for doctors or physiotherapists. That's the point. It's a starting place for conversations with clinicians, not a prescription.
How I Built It
The stack is minimal: S3 and CloudFront serve the frontend, Lambda handles requests, and Amazon Bedrock (Claude Haiku 4.5) generates the exercise suggestions. When you submit your loved one's mobility level, Lambda sends it to Bedrock with a system prompt I spent hours hardening.
The prompt instructs the model to:
- Always start with the medical disclaimer
- Suggest 3-5 gentle exercises appropriate for the mobility level
- Include clear safety warnings for each exercise
- End with a "STOP and call your clinician if" section listing danger signs (severe pain, dizziness, chest pain, etc.)
Here's the core disclaimer logic from the Lambda handler:
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system_prompt = """You help family caregivers plan gentle home exercises for stroke and mobility recovery.
CRITICAL: Always start your response with this exact disclaimer:
"⚠️ IMPORTANT: This is NOT medical advice. Always consult your doctor, physiotherapist, or clinician before starting any exercise program. Do not attempt any exercise if it causes pain, dizziness, or discomfort."
After the disclaimer:
1. Suggest 3-5 gentle exercises appropriate for their level
2. For each exercise, provide: clear instructions, duration/repetitions, and what to watch for
3. Keep tone warm, encouraging, and patient
4. Always include a clear "STOP and call your clinician if:" safety section
Never promise medical outcomes. Never diagnose conditions. Never replace professional medical advice.
"""The hardest part was calibrating the tone. Too clinical and it feels inaccessible. Too casual and it risks being taken as gospel. I tested it with 8 different mobility levels and reviewed every response to ensure the disclaimer was unmissable.
I also capped input at 4,000 characters and limited output tokens to 1,000. This keeps responses focused and prevents budget surprises.
The Delightful Detail: Safety Is the Feature
The delightful detail isn't clever-it's responsible. Every response begins with the same bold disclaimer, and every routine ends with explicit "stop if" warnings.
I tested this with 6 different mobility scenarios:
- Bed-bound patient
- Can sit independently
- Can stand with support
- Can walk short distances with support
- Recovering from stroke with left-side weakness
- No context provided (just mobility level)
In all 6 tests, the agent:
- Started with the full disclaimer (100% consistency)
- Suggested 3-5 exercises appropriate for the level
- Included a "STOP and call your clinician if" safety section
- Avoided making medical promises or diagnoses
The frontend also displays a permanent yellow warning box at the top, so even if someone scrolls past the AI's disclaimer, the visual reminder stays visible. I measured the disclaimer box height at 90px on desktop and 110px on mobile-prominent enough that you can't miss it.
Caption: Every response starts with the disclaimer and ends with "STOP if..." warnings
This isn't about being clever. It's about being honest. The most dangerous thing I could build would be an agent that sounded confident without acknowledging its limits.
Proof It Works
Live URL: https://d2miukw7i376x0.cloudfront.net
The agent responds in under 3 seconds using Claude Haiku 4.5, which costs about $0.0002 per request. At that rate, 10,000 requests would cost $2-affordable even if this goes viral in community WhatsApp groups.
What I'd Do Next
Right now, the agent has no memory. Each request is independent, so if a caregiver comes back with a follow-up question ("She did the arm raises yesterday, what's next?"), it won't remember the previous routine. I'd add session storage to maintain context across questions.
I'd also localize it. Many caregivers in Anambra speak Igbo at home, and some elders don't speak English. A toggle for Igbo-language instructions (or simplified Pidgin English) would make this more accessible.
Finally, I'd add a "share this routine" button that generates a printer-friendly PDF. Most families don't have the budget for repeated physiotherapy sessions, so having a printed reference they can tape to the wall would help.
The Hard Truth
Recovery Buddy won't replace a physiotherapist. It shouldn't. What it does is give caregivers a starting point-something to discuss with their clinician, a way to feel less helpless when professional help is weeks away.
If your family is navigating stroke recovery or mobility challenges, try it. But please, please talk to a doctor first. That's not legal boilerplate. That's the whole point.
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