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If there is an industry that needs startups, it is long term care and senior care in general. Expensive, nearly universally badly done, and it seems like a lot

If there is an industry that needs startups, it is long term care and senior care in general. Expensive, nearly universally badly done, and it seems like a lot of people could stay in their homes with some automated appliances/thoughtful redesigns of everyday items. Hoping that when my grandparents start needing it in 5-10 years that the options have dramatically improved.

Spooky23 5y ago
No, it’s not a startup industry. Nursing homes cannot be humane and generate the profits needed to be startups. Nursing homes are the end of the road for “medical” related services. They are the last stop for people who nobody wants. Everyone associated with these places is exploited other than the guy who owns it and the custodians who clean and plow.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
burkaman 5y ago
> A resident needs a bandage changed? An IV line inserted? A catheter replaced? A prescription refilled? This is not stuff that robots can do in the near future.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  First three, no, but why couldn't a robot refill a prescription or at least automatically handle the scheduling for that? And the goal isn't to automate that stuff, but rather automate everything else to free up expensive human hours for this work. So instead of spreading humans thin between cleaning toilets, cleaning floors, doing laundry, and putting in IVs, get the cleaning and laundry off the plate of the human.
  - ryan93 5y ago
    Filling prescriptions needs human supervision and takes very little time relative to other things care facilities do.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  Prescriptions could be filled, and delivered , but doctors love those pricy office visits. (It's a bit better with zoom.)
Chris2048 5y ago
> with some automated appliances/thoughtful redesigns Can you give some examples? I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  Sure. I am not talking about large things like chair lifts for stairs but rather small problems that cumulatively could drive a senior out of their home. - Gutters. Being on a roof at 78 is not safe and contracting out gutter cleaning can be expensive. Some way to make gutters easier to empty/make them not require emptying. I imagine a robotic snake that wiggles through, but I am sure the real solution is more mundane. - Small steps. Lots of little steps are casually put into homes. For example, the garage often has a step into the powder room or there is a step between the living room and the kitchen. Yes, you can put a small stool there, but it moves and isn't that stable and is still too high. What I want is a small ramp that they can shuffle up if they need to and is sturdy enough that it won't move and is thin enough at the top to fit under the door. - Food prep. An automated way to stir a pot. Oven trays with easy to grasp sides. Automated peelers/choppers. The tasks which are hard on old hands or require stability. - Social connection. Event info has moved online, but it is hard for them to access. I did a hackathon project on this where it was an Alexa skill for getting event info. Ideally there might be some rideshare integration as well. - Cleaning. I find it crazy that humans still clean virtually every toilet. There has got to be a better way. Toilets are one of the hardest things for them because you have to get down on hands and knees.
- DeRock 5y ago
  > I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com Induction stoves are the much better option here. They will only heat up ferromagnetic material (i.e. actual pots and pans) and most can sense when nothing is on them and turn off automatically.
  - Chris2048 5y ago
    True, but that's a much bigger purchase I guess, and many ppl would prefer gas if that's what they are used to.
mooreds 5y ago
Here's a home sharing company for older/younger pairs that I know of (not affiliated, had a friend work there for a while) https://www.silvernest.com/ https://www.silvernest.com/ Interesting take on it, imo.
- ErikVandeWater 5y ago
  Silvernest is more of a roommate matching service for old folks. Not so much for pairing young and old.
  - mooreds 5y ago
    Hmmm. I just looked through it and, yes, it appears to be a roommate matching service, irrespective of age. But looks like it is aimed at helping folks age in place: "If you can't swing a forever home and you still want to stay where you are, you may need an alternative source of income. And an increasingly popular one…is home sharing. Silvernest, a home-sharing service for older homeowners that matches them with roommates..." When I first heard about it, I remember being told the focus was on young/old matches, but maybe they pivoted or I misremember.
nradov 5y ago
A lot of people do stay in their homes. There is a significant niche industry of building contractors and suppliers for retrofitting homes. Wheelchair ramps, stair lifts, walk-in bathtubs, etc. The real problems come with seniors who need direct hands-on care due to dementia and other serious medical conditions. Remote patient monitoring and smart healthcare devices can help a little, and there are many startups in that space.
elil17 5y ago
Sounds like an industry that needs regulation and public sector intervention. If you care and have a lot of money, you can pay for home health aids who will do an excellent job caring for your elderly relatives. The issues is that a good number of people just don't care and take an "out of sight out of mind" approach. A startup can't disrupt this, only regulations which protect elder rights can. Those who do care frequently can't afford it, but a startup can eliminate the costs of caring human interaction, which is the primary thing that elderly people today need more of. The government, however, could help pay for these costs by covering more elder care under Medicare.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
paxys 5y ago
This is not the kind of problem that can be solved with a fancy app. What the industry needs is proper oversight.
TrispusAttucks 5y ago
Capitalism can't save this. This is fundamentally a social decay problem. Modern social behavior sweeps all "unpleasant" grief under the carpet. Out of place out of mind.
- germinalphrase 5y ago
  There is a sociological argument that this is a core element of what it means to be “civilized”. We displace the responsibility for dirty work on others so that we - the civilized - can maintain the appearance of being clean. For instance, we eat lamb chops, but we don’t carve a lamb at the table.
- MichaelZuo 5y ago
  I’m fairly certain people of all classes, ranks, and social situations in ancient Mesopotamia, China, India, and Egypt sometimes swept ‘unpleasant’ grief under the carpet too… unless you have some credible reason to believe otherwise?
  - lmm 5y ago
    The proportion of multi-generational homes in modern western cultures is far lower, and the emphasis on taking care of your parents as a sacred social duty is gone. I'm sure that there were plenty of individuals in those historic cultures who fell short of what was expected, but widespread care homes are a relatively recent change.
    - nradov 5y ago
      Those historic cultures had shorter lifespans and essentially forced women to work as unpaid home caregivers. Times have changed.
LurkingPenguin 5y ago
> If there is an industry that needs startups, it is long term care and senior care in general. Whatever happened to Soylent?

Spooky23 5y ago

No, it’s not a startup industry. Nursing homes cannot be humane and generate the profits needed to be startups. Nursing homes are the end of the road for “medical” related services. They are the last stop for people who nobody wants. Everyone associated with these places is exploited other than the guy who owns it and the custodians who clean and plow.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

burkaman 5y ago

> A resident needs a bandage changed? An IV line inserted? A catheter replaced? A prescription refilled? This is not stuff that robots can do in the near future.

MattGaiser 5y ago
First three, no, but why couldn't a robot refill a prescription or at least automatically handle the scheduling for that? And the goal isn't to automate that stuff, but rather automate everything else to free up expensive human hours for this work. So instead of spreading humans thin between cleaning toilets, cleaning floors, doing laundry, and putting in IVs, get the cleaning and laundry off the plate of the human.
- ryan93 5y ago
  Filling prescriptions needs human supervision and takes very little time relative to other things care facilities do.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
Prescriptions could be filled, and delivered , but doctors love those pricy office visits. (It's a bit better with zoom.)

Chris2048 5y ago

> with some automated appliances/thoughtful redesigns Can you give some examples? I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com

MattGaiser 5y ago
Sure. I am not talking about large things like chair lifts for stairs but rather small problems that cumulatively could drive a senior out of their home. - Gutters. Being on a roof at 78 is not safe and contracting out gutter cleaning can be expensive. Some way to make gutters easier to empty/make them not require emptying. I imagine a robotic snake that wiggles through, but I am sure the real solution is more mundane. - Small steps. Lots of little steps are casually put into homes. For example, the garage often has a step into the powder room or there is a step between the living room and the kitchen. Yes, you can put a small stool there, but it moves and isn't that stable and is still too high. What I want is a small ramp that they can shuffle up if they need to and is sturdy enough that it won't move and is thin enough at the top to fit under the door. - Food prep. An automated way to stir a pot. Oven trays with easy to grasp sides. Automated peelers/choppers. The tasks which are hard on old hands or require stability. - Social connection. Event info has moved online, but it is hard for them to access. I did a hackathon project on this where it was an Alexa skill for getting event info. Ideally there might be some rideshare integration as well. - Cleaning. I find it crazy that humans still clean virtually every toilet. There has got to be a better way. Toilets are one of the hardest things for them because you have to get down on hands and knees.
DeRock 5y ago
> I guess I can start: something that monitors gas cookers, which already exists: iguardfire.com Induction stoves are the much better option here. They will only heat up ferromagnetic material (i.e. actual pots and pans) and most can sense when nothing is on them and turn off automatically.
- Chris2048 5y ago
  True, but that's a much bigger purchase I guess, and many ppl would prefer gas if that's what they are used to.

mooreds 5y ago

Here's a home sharing company for older/younger pairs that I know of (not affiliated, had a friend work there for a while) https://www.silvernest.com/ https://www.silvernest.com/ Interesting take on it, imo.

ErikVandeWater 5y ago
Silvernest is more of a roommate matching service for old folks. Not so much for pairing young and old.
- mooreds 5y ago
  Hmmm. I just looked through it and, yes, it appears to be a roommate matching service, irrespective of age. But looks like it is aimed at helping folks age in place: "If you can't swing a forever home and you still want to stay where you are, you may need an alternative source of income. And an increasingly popular one…is home sharing. Silvernest, a home-sharing service for older homeowners that matches them with roommates..." When I first heard about it, I remember being told the focus was on young/old matches, but maybe they pivoted or I misremember.

nradov 5y ago

A lot of people do stay in their homes. There is a significant niche industry of building contractors and suppliers for retrofitting homes. Wheelchair ramps, stair lifts, walk-in bathtubs, etc. The real problems come with seniors who need direct hands-on care due to dementia and other serious medical conditions. Remote patient monitoring and smart healthcare devices can help a little, and there are many startups in that space.

elil17 5y ago

Sounds like an industry that needs regulation and public sector intervention. If you care and have a lot of money, you can pay for home health aids who will do an excellent job caring for your elderly relatives. The issues is that a good number of people just don't care and take an "out of sight out of mind" approach. A startup can't disrupt this, only regulations which protect elder rights can. Those who do care frequently can't afford it, but a startup can eliminate the costs of caring human interaction, which is the primary thing that elderly people today need more of. The government, however, could help pay for these costs by covering more elder care under Medicare.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

paxys 5y ago

This is not the kind of problem that can be solved with a fancy app. What the industry needs is proper oversight.

TrispusAttucks 5y ago

Capitalism can't save this. This is fundamentally a social decay problem. Modern social behavior sweeps all "unpleasant" grief under the carpet. Out of place out of mind.

germinalphrase 5y ago
There is a sociological argument that this is a core element of what it means to be “civilized”. We displace the responsibility for dirty work on others so that we - the civilized - can maintain the appearance of being clean. For instance, we eat lamb chops, but we don’t carve a lamb at the table.
MichaelZuo 5y ago
I’m fairly certain people of all classes, ranks, and social situations in ancient Mesopotamia, China, India, and Egypt sometimes swept ‘unpleasant’ grief under the carpet too… unless you have some credible reason to believe otherwise?
- lmm 5y ago
  The proportion of multi-generational homes in modern western cultures is far lower, and the emphasis on taking care of your parents as a sacred social duty is gone. I'm sure that there were plenty of individuals in those historic cultures who fell short of what was expected, but widespread care homes are a relatively recent change.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Those historic cultures had shorter lifespans and essentially forced women to work as unpaid home caregivers. Times have changed.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago

> If there is an industry that needs startups, it is long term care and senior care in general. Whatever happened to Soylent?