It’s a challenging moment for a family when the traditional roles are reversed and the child becomes their parents’ caretaker.
Jason Eversole and his wife, Bridgid, faced this flipped and unfamiliar dynamic when their own parents were diagnosed with various ailments. It felt like a part-time job scheduling appointments and transportation, sorting through paperwork, updating family members and actually spending time with their parents — all the while balancing their full-time jobs and raising a daughter.
“When you land here and you’re completely overwhelmed, how do you pause for just a minute to understand: What’s the trajectory that I’m on? What do I need to do now? What can wait a while and what does my road map need to look like?” Eversole told The Daily Progress.
But amid all of this turmoil, the seed of innovation started to take root for the Eversoles.
The couple began to devise a platform that could serve as a hub for their family’s evolving needs: manage all of the paperwork, calendars and logistics as well as keep their network of family, friends and caregivers connected.
The system would offset some of the burden as children learn how to navigate the chaos of aging parents, many of whom are dealing with emotionally taxing diagnoses such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
After joining forces with another couple — Drs. Kathryn and Justin Mutter, a local emergency medicine doctor and geriatrician, respectively — the team created Alula, an online platform that Eversole likens to a blend of Facebook, Care.com and Taskrabbit.
Alula officially launched on Jan. 15, with already more than 400 people signed up for free subscriptions.
Families undergo an interview process that allows the program to determine their specific needs and objectives before uploading various medical and legal documents in order to streamline the process down the road when it comes to scheduling appointments or paying bills. All information is secured behind “military-grade encryption” and complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA.
Alula then generates a “task-oriented action plan” for each family, as described by Eversole. It also creates a “bulletin board” and other channels for caretakers — whether formal ones or involved family and friends — to notify one another and share updates.
“We help people understand, like, this is where you are, right?” he said. “[These are] the kind of the things you need to do now, and we facilitate that.”
At this moment in the U.S., there are more than 53 million “unpaid caregivers,” as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, supporting about 45 million loved ones over the age of 65 who have chronic conditions or disabilities. It’s estimated that this group provides the equivalent of $470 billion in free care each year.
Over the next decade, however, experts predict that these demographics will see a dramatic shift. By 2035, an estimated 78 million people will be over the age of 65. Projections generated by the Pew Research Center show a decline in the working-age population, ages 25 to 64, falling from 128.3 million in 2015 to 120.1 million by 2035.
At the time of the study’s publication in 2019, Pew calculated that this deficit might be “offset by an increase in the number of working-age U.S.-born adults with immigrant parents, who are projected to number 24.6 million in 2035, up from 11.1 million in 2015.” (It should be noted that it is unclear if that will hold under the current mass deportation directive of the Trump administration.)
From the perspective of Alula’s creators, such resources and tools are needed now more than ever to assist the millions of caregivers who are assuming significant financial, mental and, sometimes, physical stress to look after friends and family in need.
A prime example that Eversole uses to convey the effectiveness of the program he coded is a paid caretaker looking after an elderly person whose children don’t live nearby.
Arriving at the house one day, the caregiver noticed the kitchen sink was leaking, so they sent a picture and description of the issue to the family’s Alula bulletin board. The system, with Eversole at the controls, was able to track down a local plumber, send the children an estimate and have the plumber come fix the sink that afternoon.
It’s during the site’s “free-trial stage” when Eversole is able to test out different prototype settings, such as flagging issues like leaky sinks, and watch the metrics to see what aspects users are attracted to and what could be upgraded.
“How can we use this type of technology to make it for good,” he said. “How can I actually make it useful for a family that needs some things right in real time?”
Eversole, a former air traffic controller for the U.S. Marine Corps, is hoping to eventually install some additional features, including check-in calls for the person in need of care or reminders to take medication. He’d also like to establish partnerships with law firms, which would allow Alula to forward information and records directly to attorneys should registered clients be in need of legal assistance.
Having plenty of firsthand experience themselves, Alula’s founders understand that it’s not always coordination that’s a challenge for the elderly. Plenty of studies show the significant mental, emotional and even physical benefits that consistent social interaction can produce for older people.
Justin Mutter, who is also a dementia care expert, gave a talk on this subject — the importance of living “as full of a life” as possible with dementia — at a senior citizen center in the Charlottesville area a couple of years ago. The Eversoles were in attendance, and Mutter’s message resonated with them as they were developing Alula.
“You might have Parkinson’s disease or might have dementia or something else, but that’s only one part of you right there; the whole rest of you that is fully capable of doing things,” said Eversole. “So how do you continue to do these things that bring you happiness and fulfillment in your life while still having a good understanding and a plan for how you mitigate the other things that are difficult.”
Eversole envisions building out a component of Alula entirely dedicated to this philosophy. He’s currently in contact with various religious organizations in the Charlottesville area as well as support groups dedicated to those living with Parkinson’s disease to develop more of a community-focused network.
Alula could connect individuals who may be isolated due to mobility issues or other ailments with like-minded peers and outside social engagements. Volunteers from the community or churches can also sign up to accompany someone to a nearby concert or theater production.
“There’s so many people out there that have so many similar interests,” Eversole said. “How do we bring these people together to where it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg to go do the things that help you emotionally — help your mind and your body and your spirit all in one?”
“I shouldn’t need to have to pay somebody to come and hang out with me,” he added. “That just seems absurd to me.”
That idea of fellowship and social well-being partly inspired the site’s name, according to Eversole. He and his collaborators were leaning toward something avian, and one day, he thought of seeing flocks of birds flying about in “murmurations,” or coordinated, swirling patterns.
Given murmurations is a bit of a mouthful for a company name, Justin Mutter proposed “alula,” the Latin word for a group of feathers on a bird’s wing that collectively control the animal’s ascension into the sky.
“That’s a pretty good metaphor for us,” said Eversole.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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