A significant amount of care work for elderly people is taken on by their family members. They’re unpaid, they have no or minimal training, and if something goes wrong, there’s not much in the way of backup. Carewell is one company trying to ease the load just a little bit (https://longevity.technology/news/aging-in-place-trailblazer-focus-carewell/).
Carewell is a family company in every sense. CEO Bianca Padilla moved back home with her mother and grandmother after graduating from college. As her grandmother had recently had hip surgery, she was in need of a lot of extra support. Bianca found herself thrown in at the deep end as far as caregiving was concerned. Even with her mother sharing the responsibilities, she still found it incredibly difficult to obtain accurate and relevant information.
Children and grandchildren aren’t doctors, nurses, physical therapists or psychologists. They don’t have the expertise or training to formally identify their loved ones’ health problems or to choose the most appropriate response without a lot of guidance. One area in which Padilla found herself struggling was with the many products that claim to be able help you with assorted health issues. Which ones were trustworthy, and which ones were scams? Did she actually know how to use the product if she did decide to buy it?
The idea behind Carewell was to provide a service that can answer those questions and alleviate any confusion, and to do so in a personalized way. Rather than traipsing through all the stores, pharmacies and websites stocking relevant products, you can just go to Carewell and have it do the research for you.
Not only can Carewell show you more than 6500 products that are trustworthy, effective and a good value, but it also provides you with relevant, easy-to-read information, advice and instructions. If you need even more help, there’s a full team of trained professionals at the end of the phone or just an e-mail away. You can find answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Direct communication is an important part of Carewell’s approach.
It’s the combination of specialist knowledge and training among Carewell staff, with its empathetic attitude to untrained family carers, that sets Carewell apart from other services. It’s not just about the practicality of the support – although that’s important – but about ensuring people providing care for their relatives no longer have to feel isolated.
