Roughly one out of every three people in the United States serves as a caregiver for a chronically ill, disabled, or aging loved one at some point in their life*. Not only do most caregivers dedicate a significant amount of time to these duties,
but they often also work full or part-time jobs to make ends meet. These stresses result in 40-70% of caregivers exhibiting clinically significant signs of depression*. Fortunately, there is an increasing focus on caregiver well being, and now, more than ever, innovation in caregiving has the opportunity to make real change and improve tens of thousands of lives.
The AARP Caregiver Quality of Life Challenge, supported by AARP, and administered by Catalyst @ Health 2.0 in partnership with Mad*Pow, aimed to find tech-enabled solutions designed to help caregivers identify as caregivers, find available resources to ease their burden, and connect with others who can build and strengthen their support systems.
The Challenge, launched at HxRefactored in June 2017, received over fifty applications, with solutions ranging from AI solutions to podcasts and mobile apps. Submitted solutions were judged by our panel of experts, and scored based on how innovative they were, their potential for scalebility, the strength of their design, and the potential for impact in the caregiver community. Winners were announced live this morning at Health 2.0’s 11th Annual Fall Conference.
Taking home the grand prize of $10,000 is Tickit (@TickitHealth). Founder and CEO, Daniel Penn wowed the judges with the platform’s emphasis on the importance of physicians in caregivers’ lives. Too often, caregivers feel isolated, lonely, and burnt out. With an application that can be used at point-of-care or email, combined with AI, Tickit provides a breadth of resources to caregivers, and is delivered in a way that works in conjunction with physicians. And, this is all done without adding clinical time for physicians! Take a look at how Tickit works in this video.
The second place prize of $7,000 goes to Carrie, created by the Salesforce Experience Design Team. Although many caregivers feel alone, Carrie recognizes that there are over 40 million other people going through the same thing. The idea is simple–match caregivers with other caregivers who can provide emotional support, firsthand advice, and personalized recommendations and resources. But more importantly, the app sends reminders to help caregivers set aside time for themselves. Learn more about the platform here.
And finally, Team Aspen came in third place for a prize of $3,000. Aspen assigns each caregiver an advocate who consolidates all the support the caregivers receive into one place. Caregivers can then access support from each the people in their lives. To learn more, check out the video explaining the product here.
So, whether you yourself are caring for a loved one, you know a caregiver, or you’re simply interested in helping the caregiving population, be sure to check out these solutions that may just make a difficult job a little less difficult.
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