The Caring Economy
Whether we are 25 or 65, we all understand one simple truth —aging is guaranteed, aging successfully is not.
For the aging population, aging successfully means aging at home —with dignity, trust, and respect. Although 90% of seniors would prefer this option to a long-term care facility, many simply do not have the choice.
Home care, a growth area in Canada’s health care system, is an existing solution that helps make aging at home a reality. In fact, seniors who access home care support — privately or publicly—have a 40 percent reduced likelihood of admission to a nursing home facility. Although we know that home care support helps seniors age at home, there is limited access to public support. In Ontario, more than 10,000 seniors are waiting- for 262 days, on average- to access home care services, which calls for the private sector to bridge the gap between the services available and the urgent need for home care.
In 2010, the private home care sector accounted for $1.48 billion and is expected to continue to grow as publicly available services become more restrictive and the senior population continues to grow. Though the volume of paid care reached 60 million hours per year in addition to 90 million hours of government subsidized care, the rising need for private care continues to grow, along with the aging population that it serves.
To make aging at home a reality for all Canadians, we must redesign the delivery of home care to make it more accessible, accountable and affordable.
We know that seniors want to age at home, but what about the other two key stakeholders— family Caregivers and Care Providers?
THE GREATER DEMANDS ON FAMILY CAREGIVERS
Caregivers want more control over care delivery. They demand more consistency, collaboration and communication. Managing the needs of their loved ones can be challenging and, at times, discouraging. For peace of mind, they desire control over the delivery of care and, most importantly, accountability from Care Providers.
As government funding continues to decline, unpaid caregivers — typically a spouse or child — are having to fill the gap or pay out of pocket to hire care privately. In 2007, approximately 3.1 million Canadians, largely women between the ages of 45–64 years old (44%) (StatsCan 2012), were estimated to act as an informal caregiver to their loved ones, providing over 1.5 billion hours of care annually. Typically these informal caregivers are facilitating meal preparation, transportation, cleaning, and companionship. These caregivers provide 10 times the number of care hours by formal services, which is not only taxing on their personal well-being and their relationship with their recipient, but also on Canada’s economy — the cost to businesses from absenteeism and turnover related to unpaid care was estimated to be $1.28 billion in 2007.
The cost to businesses from absenteeism and turnover related to unpaid care was estimated to be $1.28 billion in 2007
To require family caregivers to absorb the burden of the aging population’s demand for care is physically and economically unconscionable.
Care providers, such as Personal Support Workers (PSW) or Home Health Aides are the workforce that will care for our aging population. They have a tremendous responsibility- to honour and care for our elders- however, they are underpaid, unappreciated, and unhappy. The average PSW in Ontario makes $18,423 per year — that’s approximately $10 per hour, for working a 40 hour week. This is not a sustainable living wage, nor is it incentive for this workforce to continue serving home care clients. In Ontario alone, the turnover rate of this workforce is 60%. To ensure better quality of care for the aging population, home care providers must be incentivized and empowered to continue doing great work that is truly needed by so many deserving seniors.
A New Model for Home Care Delivery — The Caring Economy
The Caring Economy is made up of for-profit marketplaces that serve the needs of others. Like the Sharing Economy, it is a marketplace that empowers neighbours to care for neighbours— removing the need for corporations to intervene. Through the latest mobile technology, businesses in the caring economy connect the supply of care to the demand for care.
In the Caring Economy, there are two key end users: the demand side that needs to hire care and are willing to pay and the supply side that has time and is looking to help. Demand side users can build their own personalized team of care providers, communicate directly within the platform, and pay on demand via mobile payments — a seamless, convenient and transparent process. This is made possible through a peer-to-peer marketplace that uses mobile technology to efficiently manage the relationships between paid care-workers to primary caregivers and their loved ones — on demand. Simply put, it is Uber for home care.
At its core, this model redesigns how care is delivered to make ‘aging in place’ a reality. The model’s objective is threefold — to help seniors age with dignity, to unburden their family caregivers, and to turn compassionate people and Personal Support Workers (PSWs) into ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ — providing them with an opportunity to earn a 20–30% higher wage- a win, win, win.
Introducing Uplift® — Home care, done differently.
Our parents and grandparents came from a generation that was told — “if something is broken, fix it”. Uplift exists to help repair a system that is failing us. We are re-defining home care delivery to make private home care more accessible, affordable, and accountable.
The Uplift® smartphone platform delivers on-demand home care services — at the touch of a button. As a company, we are laser focused on harnessing the latest mobile technology and analytical problem solving to deliver a superior user experience that fulfills the aging population’s demand for higher quality care. We are setting the new standard.
Our app is an affordable solution to expensive agency fees. We offer 20–30% lower fees than private agencies. We are also an innovative substitute to long-term care.
As an organization, we are devoted to making a positive impact in the world. Moreover, we are a pioneer of the ‘caring economy’ — where neighbours can care for neighbours and caregivers are empowered.
How it Works
Uplift is a smartphone application that delivers on-demand home care services — at the touch of a button.
Aging is guaranteed. Let’s redefine the status quo and deliver a solution that the world truly needs- an affordable substitute to long-term care. Our purpose is clear and our tactics are strong. Join us, as we solve a problem that each and every one of us (if we’re so lucky), will have to face. We are looking for your support to achieve our vision of 1 million hours of care by 2020. Learn more about us on our website at www.upliftcare.com.
