ConsidraCare Is Creating A New Construction Of Care For Canada’s Ageing Inhabitants

Canada’s inhabitants is growing older. Based on Statistics Canada, “Canada’s working-age inhabitants is older than ever.” Some eye-opening stats:

• Greater than one in 5 working adults in Canada is nearing retirement.
• In 1966, there have been 200 people aged 15 to 24 for each 100 Canadians between 55 to 64 age vary. In distinction, by 2021, the ratio had shifted to 81 folks aged 15 to 24 for each 100 Canadian aged 55 to 64.
• The most important driver of this development are child boomers retiring (born between 1946 and 1965). From 2016 to 2021, the variety of Canadians aged 65 and older elevated by 18.3% to seven million folks.
• By 2051, nearly one-quarter of the Canadian inhabitants will likely be 65 years and older.
• Globally the state of affairs is constant: 25% of the worldwide inhabitants (or two billion folks) will likely be seniors by 2050.

These insights have a number of implications for a way Canada might want to shift sources for its growing older inhabitants. There will likely be a rising demand for aged care companies: healthcare, assisted residing, and residential care–which is able to place extra stress on caregiving sources and the healthcare system. The continued pressure on the latter will likely be compounded by the necessity to deal with age-related situations, persistent illness and long-term care. This can additional exacerbate the demand for extra expert caregivers specializing in geriatric care. These elements will produce elevated demand for long-term care services, in addition to social assist applications addressing considerations like isolation, psychological well being, and neighborhood involvement to enhance the general high quality of life.

The Canadian Healthcare system has been depleted from workers shortages publish Pandemic leaving hospital services at a close to breaking level. And whereas there was authorities dedication to fund this ailing system, improvements in aged care are wanted to create alternate options in areas like distant well being care and monitoring, improved communications between caregivers and healthcare professionals, and improved situations that enable the growing older to stay independently.

Tauseef Riaz and Saba Tauseef are Cofounders of ConsidraCare. I met with these inspiring founders to grasp their private journeys that led them to deal with the broader must revolutionize the senior dwelling care business.

Tauseef and Saba have been married 23 years. Their journey to begin ConsidraCare wasn’t a singular pivotal occasion, however reasonably a gradual evolution that has spanned a few years.

Tauseef was as an engineer in Pakistan. After commencement, he was lucky to safe positions with multinational companies, which noticed to work throughout Europe, together with Sweden, Turkey, and Germany. An MBA scholarship on the Richard Ivey College of Enterprise in Canada opened one other chapter, the place Tauseef made the vital determination to determine roots in Canada, as an alternative of pursuing a profession alternative in German. Ultimately, he met Saba, who was a doctor in public well being. They married and over time, Tauseef took on extra roles abroad, the place Saba accompanied him. In 2004, their perspective shifted as they yearned to be nearer to their growing older mother and father. The start of their first little one additional heightened their want to relocate nearer to household. So, they ventured to the Center East the place Tauseef contributed to a big telecom growth throughout 24 international locations. Throughout this time, they acknowledged that being separated from household as a consequence of profession commitments wasn’t distinctive:

“There are various individuals who share the identical fear the place they’re separated from their mother and father. It is a typical rising market phenomena in center class. Numerous mother and father put effort in educating their youngsters, after which these youngsters, to seek out higher alternative, to migrate, for instance from the Center East, India and Pakistan to Canada, UK and USA, and from Indonesia to Australia and Holland. That is extra frequent right now–people who find themselves always on this state the place they’re juggling their careers and stay in a number of time zones away from their mother and father. As soon as we got here again, I believe this was in the back of our minds.”

When he returned to Canada, Tauseef mirrored on his profession, important experiences the place he directed vital funding in startup ventures and the place he oversaw quite a few acquisitions and growth of a number of enterprises in over 30 international locations. He aspired to be a part of this ecosystem and subsequently took a place in authorities at Nationwide Analysis Council of Canada Industrial Analysis Help Program (IRAP), which oversees excessive potential know-how startups. In the meantime, Saba, regardless of her credentials as a doctor from a outstanding medical establishment within the Center East, encountered difficulties in securing a place in Canada.

Saba misplaced her father in 2015, and on the identical time, had moved to Canada, the place she witnessed challenges in having the ability to apply as a licensed doctor in Canada, “… So I opened my very own enterprise, a senior dwelling care firm in Mississauga as I noticed an absence of care and empathy, particularly for seniors.”

Tauseef highlighted that lower than 30% of immigrant worldwide medical graduates, like Saba, handle to safe positions as medical doctors in Canada . In comparison with over 95% Canadian medical graduates. This obvious disparity persists right now. Tauseef famous the standard outcomes,

“Even amongst those that don’t discover medical placements, a good portion–thirty to forty %–resort to unrelated jobs like driving for Uber. Moreover, 50% of this group stays unemployed.”

For Saba, veering in the direction of roles like administrative assistants or clinic receptionists was not interesting. Ultimately she determined to discover the closest equal to the medical discipline, which was caregiving.

Unravelling the Disparities in Senior Care

The journey for Tauseef took a extra poignant flip. In 2021, Tauseef skilled a prognosis of an unusual ailment, often known as vasculitis, which landed him in a hospital with a number of organ failures in the course of the COVID disaster. He describes his expertise:

“On the day of my admission, hospitals went into lockdowns, confining me to the acute care unit with round two dozen different seniors. It was painful to see what these aged sufferers had been going via. I stayed within the hospital for a few months, whereas the 9 specialists assigned to me took me via steroid remedy, chemotherapy, biopsies and surgical procedures. I could not assist however discover the hanging lack of empathy, notably among the many specialists, when caring for the seniors in my ward. It was apparent they didn’t care in regards to the high quality of life. They solely cared about prescribing the precise remedy to remedy or halt the illness.”

Tauseef notes that regardless of Canada’s international fame as an OECD nation and one of many high locations to stay, it emerges as one of many least favorable international locations for seniors on many elements among the many developed nations. For instance, a examine of 11 developed nations by the Widespread Wealth Enjoyabled confirmed that Canadian seniors have the very best social isolation, the worst entry to short-term medical appointments, and the least satisfaction with the standard of well being care in contrast with different international locations. He continues, “I may begin feeling that medical doctors turning a blind eye to somebody as a result of they could assume you are a hypochondriac, particularly in case you are a senior, as there’s no person advocating for you. Every of our purchasers, with out exception, has encountered difficulties inside this technique. Whereas the medical framework prioritizes well being preservation and life extension, it demonstrates a marked lack of concern for the general high quality of life.”

In Canada, the present estimated value to the healthcare system for senior care is predicted to be $40 billion per yr. Of this, 60% funds long-term care services vs. 40% on dwelling care, regardless of majority of the Canadian seniors exhibiting desire to age and obtain care at dwelling. Evaluate this to Denmark or Germany the place over 60% of the funding goes in the direction of dwelling and neighborhood care. Tauseef means that this predominant allocation of funding in the direction of healthcare services and long-term care houses, locations which frequently perform as “warehouses or mere processing items reasonably than locations of complete care.” just isn’t sustainable. That is extra obvious in terms of underrepresented communities. “We stay in Brampton. We see it each day. There’s an enormous disconnect between the standard of life for the folks with decrease incomes vs these with higher incomes.”

Saba echoes Tauseef’s sentiment. The interactions she’s had with varied households floor a constant theme: a deficit within the high quality of care and the dearth of transparency within the care course of. Saba causes that with a 40% authorities allocation in the direction of dwelling care, households should not getting sufficient hours of care, and specifically, seniors who require home-based care however are ineligible for facility-based choices. She interjects, “A senior member of the family known as me a number of days in the past, letting me know their mom had a stroke in March of this yr. She was in hospital for 2 weeks then was moved to a rehabilitation facility for a month. She was then despatched dwelling with solely two hours of care per day. This proved inadequate for her wants as she struggled with primary duties like transferring from her mattress to the commode chair for toileting. She remained bedridden and relegated to sporting diapers, as an alternative.”

This household’s expertise highlights the numerous hole in care. When the household contacted Saba, she deployed caregivers the identical day. Their mom is now doing correct toileting and, extra importantly, she is being handled with the dignity and care she deserves. Saba believes there are sufficient sources however how they’re allotted is problematic, “It is simply the disproportionate allocation. If the federal government had been to redirect extra sources in the direction of dwelling well being care, it may supply a lifeline to the 90% of seniors who want to stay of their houses, in addition to alleviate stress on the general public well being system in the long term.”

Unmasking the Caregiver Business Dynamics: Financial and Structural Failures

Tauseef factors to the financial complexities and the structural points that proceed to perpetuate the issues inside the senior dwelling care system:

“I imagine financial elements are additionally at play on this state of affairs. Roughly 8 million Canadians are concerned in some type of unpaid caregiving, together with caring for fogeys and neighbors. This unpaid work, which frequently quantities to some hours per week, has been quantified bearing in mind out-of-pocket prices, misplaced wages, and foregone holidays. These estimates tally as much as an estimated $100 billion yearly, equal to about 4% of our GDP. This primarily represents a big contribution of free labor to the economic system. If these caregivers had been compensated, this 4% of GDP would circulation into their earnings.”

Tauseef factors out that most of the long-term care and retirement houses function as actual property ventures, a few of that are owned by outstanding personal fairness (PE) companies in Canada. As a former PE investor, he remarks there’s a typical concentrate on value discount on the expense of high quality. He alludes to the examine that marked Canada’s nursing houses which had the worst document for COVID 19 deaths amongst G7 international locations at 69%, nicely above the worldwide common. He winced, “And whereas everyone awoke, and there have been no vital repercussions. There have been no stories revealed, no tales advised, and issues had been swept underneath rug as a result of there was nobody to talk on behalf of seniors.”

He raises the important query of why Canada’s system would not mirror the sturdy dwelling care fashions of nations like Germany, Denmark and Japan, alluding to the overwhelming want for seniors to age in their very own houses.

If it’s a system with sources constraints, Tauseef hypothesizes that if Canada had been in a position to successfully combine each worldwide medical graduate and internationally certified nurse into the care system, the issue may very well be resolved. He challenges this with the notion that the provision constraint is “manufactured”, saying, “There’s a man-made constraint being created right here, just like what the taxi business had earlier than the launch of platforms like Uber difficult the established order. The bottlenecks should be circumvented via digital methods and platforms and extra distinctive enterprise fashions that don’t tread on regulatory limitations however nonetheless fill the hole.”

Insurance coverage doesn’t present extra protection choices for many who want to obtain care at dwelling. Tauseef famous that whereas some firms beforehand supplied such protection, they’ve since withdrawn from it. In any case, households are reluctant to show to personal insurance coverage, justifying their tax {dollars} ought to have supplied the mandatory protection as an alternative.

So, whereas their companies are competitively priced, ConsidraCare remains to be thought of premium and inexpensive for under the extra prosperous. Tauseef emphasised that for the broader inhabitants, authorities intervention is critical to make homecare accessible on a wider scale, via subsidies.

The Genesis for Change: ConsidraCare

Each Tauseef and Saba’s private experiences and encounters have fueled their drive to deliver change to the caregiver business. Each share their imaginative and prescient of harnessing know-how to deal with these three challenges: 1) value, 2) high quality, and three) caregiver turnover within the senior care business. Saba elaborates, “Beginning ConsidraCare got here from our collective learnings from the earlier 5 years to assist resolve the issues of dwelling well being and the issues which seniors are dealing with all through Canada.”

With out enough authorities applications, the business presently experiences 8X the demand, translating into 400,000 seniors on retirement dwelling waitlists.

On the outset, Tauseef highlights that the homecare business has a considerable overhead of roughly 70% of the bottom wage of a caregiver. Conventional dwelling care enterprise is complicated and requires administration and coordination of a human useful resource in actual time. To cowl these prices, many companies should cost 2X the caregiver wage. Caregivers and nurses are dispatched to numerous places at totally different occasions, requiring meticulous oversight for high quality upkeep. Presently, many companies function like staffing companies, offering minimal ongoing assist as soon as a caregiver is assigned, which has been a supply of dissatisfaction amongst households.

ConsidraCare has accomplished an entire audit on the house care supply enterprise, and has proceeded to digitize and optimize it, permitting the right oversight and monitoring to make sure that high quality care is delivered.

Additionally they concentrate on hiring expertly educated {and professional} caregivers. Tauseef addresses the excessive turnover amongst caregivers right now, “Usually, most caregivers and nurses within the senior care sector go away their careers inside 5 years as a consequence of stress, citing insufficient compensation, and an absence of respect. Most personal companies see an annual caregiver turnover of 60% or extra.”

Empowering Caregivers: A Paradigm Shift in Alternative

ConsidraCare seeks to empower caregivers and create a shift in how they work. Tauseef highlights that via the assist and connectivity supplied via their platform, caregivers now not really feel undervalued or disrespected. In contrast to the standard mannequin the place caregivers typically felt underpaid and overworked, ConsidraCare ensures truthful compensation and a supportive work surroundings because of the effectivity achieved via end-to-end automation of senior dwelling care supply.

Saba elaborates on the multi-faceted advantages for caregivers, emphasizing how the platform enhances their expertise. Caregivers can entry a devoted app that gives care plans and duties, streamlining their each day routine. The platform’s transparency ensures households obtain real-time updates bettering transparency and belief between the caregivers and households, and their optimized answer allows larger funds to caregivers in comparison with the business common, on the outset. Ongoing coaching, together with specialised coaching in dementia care and persistent situations, additional empowers caregivers to supply distinctive care.

Saba said that their platform always displays caregiver actions, proactively producing alerts and alarms if there are any points, which makes the lifetime of the workplace workers managing the workforce and shopper relationship easy.

Tauseef additionally highlighted the unequal distribution of senior services and companies, with focus prioritized in prosperous city areas. Termed the “postal code lottery” in Canada, areas like GTA, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and many others. have an abundance of choices for retirement houses, personal care companies, and even authorities involvement. Nevertheless, given the present excessive value of residing, many seniors are opting to find to smaller cities like London, Niagara Falls, Kelowna or Cornwall, that are with out satisfactory care infrastructure in place. ConsidraCare has developed a hybrid SaaS choice to scale into distant areas and underserved communities. As per Tauseef, “In our upcoming part, we envision extending our attain to those smaller communities via a hybrid SaaS/low-cost franchise mannequin. For example, if there are worldwide medical graduates or foreign-trained nurses residing there, we are able to supply them an attractive enterprise alternative. They will leverage our platform to supply exceptionally high-quality care, and extra than simply furnishing them with software program, we additionally share our high quality requirements and help in establishing a enterprise that may catalyze this rising cottage business.” He provides that this focus in the direction of senior care in smaller cities is scalable in the direction of worldwide functions as nicely.

For medical doctors, ConsidraCare gives elevated visibility to the extent of care as soon as the affected person has left the clinic. Tauseef elaborates, “The platform primarily assumes a central function inside the circle of care. It initiates the project of duties to caregivers and subsequently displays supply, generates complete stories which may be shared amongst everybody inside the circle of care. This mechanism not solely enhances consciousness but in addition empowers households with full authority over the distribution of knowledge and the recipients with whom they decide to share it.”

Digitization because the Aggressive Benefit vs. Standard Senior Care

Digitizing their companies permits ConsidraCare to supply larger pay charges in comparison with business and has allowed them to function at roughly 30-40% under the common market fee for fine quality firms.

Tauseef stresses their firm is pushed by a mission, and this has led them to set an inside monetary goal and whereas this may impose limitations and lead to money burn, they’re however dedicated to upholding this strategy because it serves as a differentiating issue and a protecting barrier for his or her enterprise: “We view the funding in paying caregivers extra and charging purchasers much less as a strategic transfer. This strategy fosters constructive word-of-mouth, enhances caregiver satisfaction, and contributes to raised general high quality of life. In essence, this angle is embedded inside our enterprise mannequin.”

He additionally provides that having a powerful service aspect mixed with a proprietary platform which reduces their fastened value makes it simpler to interrupt even in contrast to pure software program performs which burn money and are all the time chasing earnings, “If we do the mathematics… we are able to break even round 1,000,000 {dollars} in income. We hope to do that subsequent yr.”

The Economics Favors Seniors to Age In Their Properties

Intensive analysis each inside Canada and internationally has persistently demonstrated that delivering care at house is less expensive for the federal government than offering care in retirement dwelling services. On this report by Deloitte, home-based care reduces the general healthcare prices by minimizing hospital re-admissions, emergency room visits, and the necessity for long-term institutional care.

Listed here are some insights on the demand for senior care:

• Demand for long-term care, is predicted to succeed in 606,000 sufferers in 2031, up from 380,000 in 2019.
• Demand for dwelling care will improve to roughly 1.8 million sufferers in 2031, up from near 1.2 million in 2019.
• This improve is projected to outcome within the whole value of care rising from $29.7 billion in 2019 to $58.5 billion in 2031.
• The cumulative value of offering this care over 2021 to 2031 is pegged at $490.6 billion.

When contemplating households’ viewpoints, receiving care at dwelling ought to intuitively be extra inexpensive in the event that they had been to obtain the identical subsidy the federal government presents for retirement houses or long-term care services. Nevertheless, the subsidies are making it cheaper for the more serious choice to be financially extra enticing. Tauseef clarifies they’re a complementary service to retirement houses, nonetheless, the urgent challenge in Canada, notably in Ontario, is that analysis reveals there are twice as many people in long-term care services as there needs to be. A staggering fifty % of these presently in these services do not truly require that stage of care and may very well be successfully cared for in their very own houses.

By transitioning half of the inhabitants from long-term care services again to their houses whereas sustaining the identical subsidy construction, it presents a compelling monetary argument. In reality, shifting 37,000 Canadians out of long-term care will save the well being care system an estimated $794 million by 2031.

The difficulty arises when those that don’t want such in depth care find yourself occupying these services, successfully blocking entry for many who genuinely want them. The idea of “growing older in place” is essential: people ought to ideally age inside their houses till the purpose the place extra in depth medical care is critical. Tauseef’s focus: “ConsidraCare is offering an alternate for the portion of the inhabitants who may be adequately cared for at dwelling and, in doing so, relieving stress on retirement houses.”

The affect on the caregivers, particularly the members of the family who forego revenue to care for his or her mother and father, may very well be substantive ought to authorities subsidy be redirected to supply households with an allowance to cowl homecare. As well as, the pressure on the system can be alleviated: from well being care prices, public well being, hospitals, hospices and rehabilitation centre capacities. Saba emphasizes ConsidraCare’s worth: “There is a level the place an individual’s situation might require a transfer to a long-term care facility. Nevertheless, our homecare firm will help delay that time, making the general system less expensive and granting households peace of thoughts and permitting seniors independence of their acquainted surroundings – their very own houses, to place it merely.”

Creating Alternatives for Certified Underrepresented Caregivers

ConsidraCare desires to additionally create alternatives for immigrant employees. Almost all of their present caregiving workers are Black, Indigenous, Folks of Color–immigrant ladies, lots of whom maintain vital {qualifications} from their dwelling international locations, typically as nurses.

Saba provides, “They hit the bottom operating. The standard of care they supply is excellent as a result of they’ve labored in very tough environments. They’re attempting to determine themselves on this new nation, they usually’re excited to be given a chance the place their abilities are utilized. So, we assist them acclimate in a short time to the sensible facets together with the way you interact with households, the extent of professionalism required and superior matters corresponding to specialised take care of dementia.”

Encouraging their development is a precedence for Tauseef and Saba. They observe that about 20% of their caregivers are pursuing nursing research, they usually actively assist them in constructing lasting careers. With ConsidraCare, they obtain invaluable expertise, examine alternatives, a good wage and commendations for future references. Tauseef acknowledges Brampton as an excellent immigration hub for extremely certified professionals and contributes to their capability to facilitate ConsidraCare within the Canadian healthcare discipline.

Saba is happy with their work up to now: “We’ve got helped 50 of our caregivers who’re worldwide nurses, and they’re proper now working in the direction of their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BNS) or Registered Nurse (RN) within the Canadian healthcare system. We assist them construct their proficiency via this expertise and proper now, they’re built-in within the healthcare system as nurses.”

A Two-Means Technique For Scale: Enhancing Canada’s Caregiving Panorama whereas Nurturing International Impression

Tauseef and Saba recognized a chance with rising immigration to Canada. Recognizing the challenges confronted by expats, notably from international locations like India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Japanese Europe, Tauseef emphasised that 20% of Canada’s inhabitants contains expats, who typically discover themselves separated from their growing older mother and father as a consequence of immigration restrictions. With Canada welcoming an estimated 500,000 immigrants yearly, this challenge is projected to accentuate. Households encounter a big burden as they navigate the challenges of long-distance caregiving, from hospitalizations to end-of-life care.

These circumstances prompted ConsidraCare to discover the potential growth of their mannequin to rising markets, the place related challenges exist however are exacerbated as a consequence of insufficient homecare infrastructure. Tauseef highlighted the stark demand for dependable caregiving in these markets. Opposite to extra developed markets, rising economies lack the idea of geriatric care, which they intend to deal with by introducing geriatric telemedicine. The absence of geriatricians in these areas creates a considerable hole that our platform may bridge.

Increasing their presence into worldwide and rising markets is a strategic transfer that inherently fortifies ConsidraCare’s operations in Canada. Tauseef provides, “This strategic strategy presents a twin benefit: it not solely augments our use case in Canada but in addition propels development in untapped areas.”

From a Canadian perspective, Tauseef outlined a promising pathway the place proficient caregivers educated on ConsidraCare in rising markets may seamlessly transition to Canada. “These expert professionals, well-versed in caregiving via our platform, may bridge the prevailing hole as live-in caregivers, thus plugging an business void.”

This concept resonates with Canada’s former live-in caregiver program, which sadly grew to become a goal for exploitation by placement companies and households. ConsidraCare has the potential to rejuvenate this program, rectifying previous missteps and offering a extra equitable system that advantages caregivers and households alike.

Furthermore, Tauseef emphasised the broader significance of this international workforce in tackling Canada’s caregiver scarcity. By certifying overseas Private Help Staff (PSWs) and granting them Canadian accreditation overseas, these caregivers may seamlessly combine into Canada’s healthcare panorama, elevating the caliber of care accessible. This dual-benefit strategy not solely improves caregivers’ incomes potential but in addition addresses the urgent scarcity that Canada presently grapples with. This initiative will cater to Canada’s present demand for caregivers whereas accommodating the aspirations of overseas employees in search of financial alternatives with out the complexities of full immigration.

As nicely, the worldwide dissemination of Canadian requirements and coaching in rising markets ensures {that a} excessive customary of care transcends borders. This strategy, as Tauseef highlighted, is a win-win: “It enhances the lives of caregivers and households in these areas whereas concurrently creating a chance for Canada to allow immigration of extra expert professionals educated to our exacting requirements. These adept caregivers may considerably contribute to addressing the evolving wants of an growing older inhabitants, thereby reinforcing the senior care sector not solely inside Canada however doubtlessly in different developed markets as nicely.”

Tauseef additionally make clear the potential of distant care, envisaging the institution of caregiving name facilities in rising markets, a novel strategy that exemplifies how technological innovation can architect cross-border caregiving options that cater to the wants of seniors, households, and caregivers throughout the board.

The Journey Continues

The journey of Saba Tauseef and Tauseef Riaz serves as an inspiration from deeply private tales of ache and resilience that brough each cofounders to their current journey. Addressing the well being care challenges, the cultural nuances which have exacerbated the disproportionate distribution of care, and creating an surroundings of truthful pay that permits caregivers to thrive reveals a startup that has a real imaginative and prescient for the world. As they proceed to develop their footprint each regionally and internationally, their mission to supply cost-effective care that prioritizes the well-being of seniors whereas assuaging monetary pressures on households stays on the coronary heart of their appreciable endeavor.