A San Francisco-based startup called Sharefund wants to provide a caregiver support network by helping participants tap their social networks to split up daily tasks and make caregiving for loved ones more manageable.
Sharefund, which recently took part in the AARP Healthcare Innovation@50+ live pitch and Tech Expo, also plans to add a crowdfunding channel in addition to its network app to alleviate out-of-pocket expenses. Arguably, its name sounds more like a crowdfunding business than a social network of volunteers.
Although it is intended to be relevant for anyone dealing with a medical crisis, it seems like families caring for seniors represent the greatest need. The World Health Organization estimates that 47.5 million people have dementia, with 7.7 million new cases diagnosed each year, according to its website. The costs associated with nursing homes and assisted living are burdensome and people tend to want to stay in their own home as long as they can.
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Reetu Gupta, the founder and CEO, painted a picture of a network that’s a combination of TaskRabbit and a support network for volunteers and focusing on people with a good heart rather than experience. It also lets people who want to help neighbors volunteer enter profile indicating what they can do and availability. A calendar shows who has signed up to do errands such as offer rides, provide meals, or visit with patients so there’s no overlap.
Gupta pointed out that it offers a few different privacy settings, depending on whether users just want to tap their immediate family and friends or extend their network to include supporting charities or others beyond that. It is currently talking with potential partners such as church and youth groups. It’s relying on a lead generation model to generate revenue.
It’s a great idea and expands a concept for making people’s lives easier by not only helping them to carry out daily chores, but also adding a bigger need behind it with a chance to provide a philanthropic reward.
Sharefund is one of a few companies that sees the kindness of strangers as a practical necessity for healthcare costs to be manageable. It’s not alone in that concept. Room2Care offers itself up an Airbnb for seniors to help family caregivers handle shorterm housing needs. CareZapp offers a more complex set of services, but also makes a case for setting up a social network to alleviate care concerns.
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The aging Baby Boomer population, rising life expectancy, and fewer younger people to support them means seniors represent a larger portion of the U.S. population. The caregiver shortfall the country is experiencing is propelling action to change state laws so that ex-felons won’t be frozen out of this job market.
Sharefund’s concept would work especially well for people who have a large group of friends and family to tap. But one potential problem is that prospective volunteers in these networks may be well-intentioned, but ultimately unreliable. The headache of vetting strangers for uncompensated tasks will require sounds like a lot to take on. There is a setting that allows users to turn down offers to carry out tasks. The business will need some sort of fail safe in case volunteers can’t carry out their tasks.
Update: This story has been updated from an earlier version
Photo: Flickr
