Integrated home care for seniors, caregivers

The explosive growth in the at-risk elderly population has spawned a corresponding explosion in the number of baby boomers who find themselves caring for aging parents. In response, start-up companies have sprung up offering new services and solutions to help these caregivers help their parents remain independent, mobile and in their own homes as long as possible.

(Click here to download the full Retail Health Summit special report.)



One such innovator is Honor, which launched in 2015 to bring new solutions within the expanding $30 billion to $40 billion home care industry. “Honor was created to provide nonmedical home care for patients as they age in place,” said Kelsey Mellard, who leads health system integration efforts for the San Francisco-based start-up. Honor uses a mobile app to help consumers source trained, technology-enabled caregivers who go into seniors’ homes to supplement the care provided by family members.



“We market to adult children with aging parents,” Mellard said. “We get a lot of seniors using the service because they realize their daily living activities are starting to deteriorate.”



Much of Honor’s client base is direct-to-consumer, “engaging them in the community as people transition out of the hospital and back home,” she explained. “But we also have partnerships with local hospitals and health plans.”



The goal is to link Honor’s home care providers with other members of an integrated care team. “We provide care notes back on a real-time basis, not only to the adult child, ... but also with any of the referring providers,” Mellard said. “So we’re creating a virtual community of caregivers around the client, but also a virtual community with the care professionals. That allows us to create really personalized care services.”