Caregiving technology needs a version 2.0 upgrade

The dilemma of distance -- boomers have parents who live in, for example, Florida. The oldest boomer is 69. They’re not all that healthy. The still-living parent(s) may be even less healthy. In this age of medical specialization and long distance families, many aging women living alone: they need to see doctors, perhaps multiple doctors. Even if the children of aging parents live nearby, experiencing enhanced intergenerational proximity (!), the aging parent may ultimately live alone. With life expectancy for woman now averaging 88+, it is safe to say that older boomers are still involved in coordinating the care of their aging parent/mother. And they’re doing it from a distance – since the boomer woman with a career may not reside in Florida. Consider that Florida is now on track to become the 3^rd largest state – with population growth primarily from migration. The state now has a median age of 74 for its 65+ population, one-quarter of that population widowed. But the dilemma of distance criss-crosses the country from California to Maine, from upstate New York to New Mexico.

Does communication about tasks and status through apps fit the need?  Not so much in the caregiving space. Lots of apps (see iTunes and Google Play), but do they really help with the dilemma of distance?  Even those that promise to do one useful thing – improve communication about appointments, medication reminders, documents related to the elderly – all useful, but are they sufficient? Does the app mitigate fear and loneliness? Does help with care coordination, especially post hospital stay; with transportation to-from appointments; and general oversight needs of an 88.8-year-old widow or an 86-year-old widower? Share-the-care sites like Lotsa Helping Hands or Caring Bridge help with forming local care circles of volunteers or streamline communication flow during a crisis, but what about day-to-day check-in with that 88-year-old widow in Florida? Or that resident in hospice care in assisted living?

Finding care is not the problem.  Lots of sites are out there with the word care in the name and lead referral/matching inside the business model.  Caring.com, CareLinx, Care.com (now sorting its offers into childcare, senior care, and pets), and newer ones like CareMerge or Open Placement (note trendier words like care transition and coordinators), CareZone Senior, or Lindy Care or the still-horrendously-named A Place for Mom. [Rant on: Yes, true, one may need to find a place for Mom, but that site’s name evokes fitting Mom into a jigsaw puzzle space or a new home artwork layout. Rant off]. Hint to sites – type into the Google search box "Find assisted living" along with a specific zip code. Search has come a long way and may point directly to facilities without your site's help. Search sites should step up to providing more support to caregivers – once the care has been found.

Today firms establish the category, but not the larger solution. Players in the caregiving space may be comfortably funded (see BankRate and Caring.com, for example) or like Care.com, change the sort on their core offerings (why? TV ads are about babysitters!) to include senior care. But do these firms think big in their strategy, perhaps just not in their website? Are meetings allocated to thinking holistically about the caregiving distance dilemma and therefore the business opportunity? Perhaps there is a combination of hardware and software along with smart groupings of content. Perhaps there is an alliance-to-be of cooperation that would ultimately result in platforms that underpin suites of multi-vendor offerings (and no, that platform is not an iPhone). Consider pairings like home sensors and home care services, web-based communication cameras and caregiver tips, or home care visits and on-demand transportation. Or think about combinations of clothes shopping services and meal delivery, home-based robots and medication management. And last but certainly not least, fit in real care coordination. Is that really about the doctor-patient relationship as with CareSync's view? Who is incorporating care communication from within senior housing management? How is the dilemma of distance being addressed -- now and in the future?