There are more than 40 million people aged 65 and older in the U.S. As a way to provide what’s perceived as a widespread need for respite care for caretakers who need a break that’s not as costly as hiring a nurse, a Miami-based startup called Room2Care has developed a service akin to Airbnb for seniors. The company rolled out a website two months ago and is currently available in Miami.
Founder and CEO Dr Todd Florin claims this is something that’s currently done by extended families. He’s merely organizing a support network for it. He said it prefers hosts with healthcare experience who are currently unemployed or underemployed. Florin cautioned that each participant, whether a host or a guest would have to submit to a background check.
In addition to providing a room for seniors, Room2Care also plans for hosts to do things like transport patients to appointments, set up pillboxes, drug delivery, meal delivery and day care. It makes a case for itself as an affordable alternative to a day nurse.
“The single best caregivers…are people who give a damn,” Florin said.
The payment model depends on customers being happy. But Florin emphasized that the market should dictate which Room2Care hosts are doing a good job and which ones are doing a poor job. Nice homes and Room2Care hosts that do a good job will be better rated by customers than poorly rated hosts and will get more business.
“I like using the free market to solve social issues,” Florin said.
But as useful as Room2Care’s services sound, it also raises a lot of questions about how well-equipped people offering themselves up as hosts will be in a variety of situations, especially when they’re motivated by financial compensation. Florin said the program is not currently open to people with dementia, so there’s that. But given that the company is relatively small, it’s hard to believe it has the resources to sufficiently clear each of the host’s homes themselves, even with social workers if the concept takes off.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Asked about liability protection, Florin said “Whenever you use babysitters, nannies you expose yourself to risk.”
Florin is something of a pioneer with his approach. Companies like Uber and Airbnb have come under criticism for slipping between the narrows of regulated industries on the grounds that they’re popular and offer a level of service that their regulated rivals can’t or won’t. But each of these businesses have demonstrated there are consequences for poor oversight, like unpredictable service. The worrying downside with Room2Care is that these are vulnerable people. Although unpredictable service for Uber riders might mean you and your seeing eye dog are mistreated, or in the case of Airbnb unpredictable customers, the implications of poor service for seniors dependent on the kindness of strangers in an unregulated business is a worrying prospect.
