AARP Foundation has announced CareAngel as the winner of the 2016 Aging in Place $50K Challenge, a startup competition for entrepreneurs with solutions to help low-income adults age 50-plus live safely, independently and comfortably in their own homes as they age. With submissions from startups throughout the nation focused on “design for all” housing and caregiving solutions, the new award competition named CareAngel, Home for LifeDesign and CareAcademy as finalists.
CareAngel, based in Miami, is an AI-driven caregiving assistant that revolutionizes aging-in-place and the care of loved ones. The award winning patent-pending software technology is designed to call an older adult every day on a landline and inquires how the senior is doing, whether they took their medications, and asks about their appetite, sleep quality, blood pressure and glucose readings. With the $50,000 from AARP Foundation’s 2016 Aging in Place challenge, CareAngel will launch a Care it Forward program to provide free check-in care calls, including one year free services for 5,000 low income seniors who do not own a smartphone.
“We know that the majority of Americans want to remain in their homes as they age,” said Lisa Marsh Ryerson, AARP Foundation's president. “But we also know that there are more than 19 million older Americans living in unaffordable or unsafe housing. We need big and bold solutions like these to help meet the diverse needs of our most vulnerable seniors and allow them to remain essential members of their communities.”
As millions of older adults struggle with inadequate housing, the Foundation, in collaboration with Aging 2.0, invited startups from across the United States to submit proposals for innovative solutions to aging in place, with the winner receiving a $50,000 cash prize. CareAngel was named the winner by a panel of judges from the public, nonprofit and private sectors with venture capital, startup and innovation expertise.
The $50K Aging in Place Challenge is part of AARP Foundation’s Innovation Prize, designed to seek out promising ideas and unlock new opportunities to help solve the problems so many low-income older adults face as they age. AARP Foundation strives to create and advance effective solutions that help vulnerable older adults secure the essentials and unlock new opportunities for vulnerable older adults nationwide.
To learn more about the competition click here: www.aarpfoundationprize.org
- Submitted by AARP