Building on a successful Phase I participatory co-design project in 2022, a complete legal and financial planning solution for family caregivers will be deployed and field-tested in 2023.
SAN DIEGO, CA, January 03, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ — CareVirtue, the first evidence-supported care platform for family caregivers, has been awarded a $2.1 Million Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number R44AG074128). This award funds the development of new legal and financial planning features for CareVirtue’s integrated care platform for family caregivers.
CareVirtue’s first use case is centered on helping family dementia caregivers, who face one of the most challenging caregiving roles. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that the average total cost of care for a person living with dementia is $360,000, with a significant portion of this total falling on family finances. With 6.5 million Americans age 65+ currently living with dementia and a projected increase reaching 13.8 million by 2060, millions of families will contend with difficult and sometimes confusing choices on how to pay for care (1) and finding the right solutions for their situation (2).
“In the next phase of this research, we will conduct a national field trial of our co-designed legal and financial planning solution that addresses critical family caregiver needs,” said Christian Elliott, CareVirtue co-founder and CEO. “We are working with our community partners such as the Alzheimer’s Association, HFC Bringing Light to Alzheimer’s, and Alzheimer’s San Diego to help ensure resulting solutions are validated and useful for all family caregivers.”
(1) Care partners often pay out of pocket for caregiving expenses, and as a result are sometimes unable to save money or pay bills or expenses. Care partners have reported spending more than $10,000 per year to care for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). These families incur higher overall costs for ADRD care due to the social costs of informal caregiving, including care partners’ loss of job opportunities and productivity loss, which disproportionately fall on women care partners. Care partners who live in rural settings also report experiencing more financial difficulties than other care partners.
(2) Delayed financial and legal planning can lead to suboptimal outcomes for care partners and people living with ADRD. Care partners to people living with ADRD are more likely than their peers to spend money from their savings and retirement accounts on caregiving, jeopardizing their own financial security. They are also more likely to struggle with having enough money for regular meals and their own medical care needs. This financial burden is especially challenging for disadvantaged, under-resourced families.
About CareVirtue. CareVirtue is a digital health company working to create Better Lives for Family Care Partners. CareVirtue’s integrated care platform helps caregivers plan for and coordinate care, and access timely care support resources throughout every stage of the caregiving journey.
Related Link:
https://carevirtue.com
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