Making Family Caregiving Easier in 2021's the Caring Village App

In this Q&A session with Caring Village co-founder, Ron Novak, you’ll discover the features of a caregiver app that’s been built with one sole purpose in mind:

To make family caregiving easier. 

Curious? Us too. 

So, let’s waste no time and get straight into the questions we asked Ron…

(And yes, that’s him — we thought you might like to put a friendly face to a name before we begin!)

Question #1: 

In a few sentences, could you explain the primary purpose of Caring Village?

Sure! The idea was born as a result of our team members’ firsthand experience giving support to aging loved ones. Of course, everyone’s experience with caring is slightly different — but exhaustion, worry, and guilt are common themes.

To remedy this, we built Caring Village — a caregiving resource and coordination platform to help families and those with chronic conditions. We don’t just want to make caregiving safer, we also want to make it less stressful for everyone involved.

Question #2: 

How does Caring Village work, exactly?

All of the key benefits are wrapped up in one easy-use dashboard, which is accessible on mobile and desktop. Users can set up a “Command Center” for all of their caregiving tasks and invite family, friends — even care professionals — whoever needs to be in the know. 

Keeping track of everything can get pretty confusing, so our thinking behind it is to create a personalized village for caregivers to store all of their most important information… 

For example, you can save prescription details, relevant medical documents, and so on. 

Basically, our aim is to put the focus on the three big C’s: communication, coordination, and care!

And if any caregivers out there are wondering how the app can make their life easier, here’s what I’d say are the main features:

• Customizable care plans

   

  to create schedules of care for loved ones

• Wellness journal

   

  to track your loved one’s daily wellbeing 

• Personalized to-do lists

   

  for sharing care tasks with others, regardless of where they live

• Calendar sharing

   

  to avoid missed appointments and deadlines

• Medication lists

   

  to stay up-to-date with prescriptions

• Document storage

  , so you can access important details anywhere

• Challenge checklists

   

  to pre-plan tomorrow’s potential challenges 

Hope I haven’t missed anything on that quick run-through!

Question #3: 

What was your motivation to build such a tool?

There were a few, but the main motivation was to create a market-leading app for family caregivers that could:

1. Make organizing caregiving tasks and activities simpler to plan, and

2. Give caregivers truly useful resources, that could help them make key decisions about their loved ones’ well-being.

Question #4:

Do you have personal experience with caregiving?

Yes. Together with my siblings, I was a caregiver for my father, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer in 2009. 

As a family, we were totally in the dark about what to and who to ask for help. Without a doubt, it was the most stressful and hopeless time of my life.

My business partner, Mike, had a challenging time too. He was a caregiver to both his mother-in-law (who had Alzheimer’s) and his father (who had Parkinson’s Disease).

We both came away from our family experiences thinking there was a real lack of resources for caregivers. We’ve built what we would have benefited from ourselves — a custom-built care platform that’s easy to use. 

So yeah, that’s what we hope to achieve with Caring Village — helping everyday people who are caught in tough situations, to be able to cut down on the stress and overwhelm that often comes with providing care.

Question #5:

What’s the biggest pain point experienced by the caregivers you encounter, and how does Caring Village solve that issue?

It’s hard to give a solid answer here because, naturally, it depends on the family and their circumstances. But common pain points can range from the more practical things to the more social or emotional. 

I’d say a few of the biggest problems our caregivers face — and that we aim to solve — are:

• Care plans and information feeling too scattered, which soon gets confusing

• Concerns over messaging platforms not being secure enough

• Delays in how quickly they can connect with professional caregivers

• Keeping track of past and current medication lists, and

• The admin headache of having to contact other people involved using a range of different platforms

Caring Village Walkthrough Video

Question #6:

Can Caring Village be used on both Androids and iPhones?

Yep, no problems there! 

We’ve got native mobile apps for both Apple and Android, as well as a web-only version. You can take your pick — whichever is most suitable for you and your family. 

Also, it’s free to sign up for a Caring Village account, so I’d recommend that as a starting point.

Question #7:

Did you see the app used in new and unique ways last year during the pandemic?

We did. One of the core features of our caregiving app that saw an increase in activity is the Social Feed. 

This feed allows family members, friends, neighbors, professionals — whoever’s involved — to share and collaborate in one location.

Obviously, it saves users a lot of admin time. And during the pandemic, when people haven’t been able to visit one another due to restrictions or safety concerns, it’s become a go-to hub for daily communication.

Question #8: 

How does Caring Village plan to help family caregivers in 2021 and beyond?

Hopefully, in a lot of ways! We’ve been encouraged by the feedback so far, taken the suggestions on board, and plan to expand in 2021. 

A big part of our efforts will be focused on growing a specific online marketplace for caregivers. 

As you’ll know, finding the best products and services can be a hassle for family caregivers — it’s hard to sift through all of the information out there. 

We want to be a force for positive change, so that’s the direction we’re heading in.  Of course, anyone who’s interested to find out more is welcome to ask us any questions. Just come and say hi on our website!

Introducing the 

Carewell 2021 Family Caregiver of the Year Awards:

The Family Caregiver of the Year Awards recognizes the day-to-day challenges that this work brings, as well as offering financial rewards for caregivers who go above and beyond in their role.

Nominate a Family Caregiver of Your Choice

If you have any burning questions, please email us at awards@carewell.com.

Otherwise, you can speak to one of our Caregiving Specialists at 855-855-1666. We’re at hand 24/7!

Many thanks!

The Carewell Family

Suggested Further Reading:  7 Apps Designed to Make Caregiving Easier