Care in the Home: The New Frontier of Healthy Aging

There are over 55 million seniors in the U.S. today and more than 50 million Americans serving as unpaid caregivers to this aging population – spending an average of 32 hours per week providing care in addition to their full-time jobs. With 9 in 10 seniors reporting a preference to stay in their current homes over the next 10 years, these factors show that support and resources for at-home care are more vital than ever for two populations: care recipients and caregivers.

Those who have experience as either a care recipient or a caregiver are familiar with the dynamics of these relationships. Many older adults want to live alone and maintain their independence while remaining connected to their families and caregivers on their own terms, while many caregivers desire information and resources that streamline caregiving duties and give back precious hours of their days and nights.

As a low-burdened caregiver myself for aging parents and family members, I see the fine balance between caring and hovering as my loved ones need more assistance.?At Quil, we saw the need to develop resources that recognize that the caregiver / care recipient relationship is not as easy as a check box on a medical form, it’s a truly unique partnership with multi-faceted needs and emotions. The category of “Caregiver” is misleading as well.?I’m an individual who happens to help a loved one at times, but I’m also a businesswoman, a friend, an avid skier and golfer. My family members are not just care recipients but are spouses, community members, friends, you get my point.?We need solutions that allow us to live our fullest lives while ensuring we can get the help we need when we need it.

What Caregivers and Care Recipients Need

Understanding the individuals needs of both care recipients and caregivers inspires the Quil team to create solutions for at-home care that personalizes and tailors information and resources for both groups. An estimated 76 percent of Americans say they would be very or somewhat comfortable downloading and sharing health information on applications pre-approved by hospitals or healthcare providers. Meaning, care recipients and caregivers alike want information that they can trust, and that connects them not only to each other, but to their care provider. Similarly, both care recipients and caregivers desire ease of access and need resources that are available on a variety of devices they already own and use ?– like a smartphone, a tablet or even their television.

But some needs for care recipients and caregivers are seemingly at odds with one another, such as a care recipient’s desire for independence and privacy and a caregiver’s need to stay connected with their loved one to ensure they are safe and healthy. We began asking ourselves how a solution could meet both of these needs to facilitate remote caregiving, particularly as many pre-existing solutions seemed to fall short. For example, many consumer health platforms do not promote engagement from patients to improve care plan adherence and drive better health outcomes, while many wearable monitoring devices are limiting for users. And all too often, both solutions miss the mark when it comes to keeping caregivers looped in. This is what’s driving the Quil team to find a better way for managing at-home care – to create a solution that fits into, rather than disrupts, our daily lives and recognizes that both care recipients and caregivers have evolving and differing needs.

Quil’s Answer

We’ve developed Caregiving Circle – a way for patients to invite their caregivers into their health journeys on their own terms through the Quil Engage platform – and we are now working to launch Quil Assure, a platform designed to help seniors maintain independence and give caregivers peace of mind when it comes to at-home care. Caregiving Circle recognizes that caregivers traverse their own health journeys parallel to those in their care – and offers support for the 57 percent of unpaid family caregivers who report clinically significant levels of stress, anxiety or depression. Quil Assure combines ambient sensors, voice-activated technology, integrated emergency assistance and caregiver coordination tools and resources to not only make remote care possible, but convenient for caregivers wearing many hats – spouse, employee, parent – as well as for care recipients who are enjoying their senior stage of life and maintaining their independence.

As National Family Caregivers Month comes to a close and we enter the third year of a pandemic that has highlighted the need for better remote care, it’s essential that digital health innovators keep in mind the very people we are developing these solutions for. They’re for us – the millions of care recipients and caregivers whose lives are comprised of so much more than our health struggles or caregiving responsibilities. The right resources facilitate at-home care so we can focus on the good stuff: spending time with loved ones, pursuing our dreams and ambitions, and making time for some fun along the way.