Tech-forward home care startup Honor has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association to educate and train its caregivers in caring for people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Honor, which has made headlines for its eye-popping funding rounds totaling $62 million, has made similar collaborative agreements with other association groups, including the Parkinson’s Foundation and the American Cancer Society, to enhance their caregivers’—known as care pros—training and provide specialized care.
The partnership came about as Honor realized roughly 30% of its client base receives memory care already, according to Kelsey Mellard, Honor’s head of health systems partnerships. Honor declined to disclose its current patient census.
“[This is] very similar to the work we’ve done with the Parkinson’s Foundation and the American Cancer Society,” Mellard told Home Health Care News. “The Alzheimer’s Association has developed a set of best practices for the caregiving of loved ones and other resources that are helpful as the disease progresses. We have that content and all of our care pros will be trained on what is Alzheimer’s, the affects of the disease and coping mechanism they can offer our clients based on Alzheimer’s Association resources.”
Honor “is licensing proprietary care expertise” from the association, Mellard stated in a press release. The resources and content will be provided to all of Honor’s care pros. Honor, which recently expanded to Dallas, did not disclose how many care pros work for the California-based home care provider. The resources will enable the care pros to better provide for clients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“The Alzheimer’s Association has a lot of research on sundowning,” Mellard said. “We know as a health care community that evening hours can present more agitation in individuals with Alzheimer’s and dementia. If you’re a care pro working a 12-hour shift, being aware of increased agitation can help prepare or modify interactions with that client.”
Furthermore, the information will be built right into Honor’s care pro app for its care staff. Honor’s app, which has helped boost the company to its high profile as a tech-forward provider, will include specific tasks to help identify the specific disease and aid in caregiving, according to Mellard.
Going forward, Honor plans to continue expanding its approach to personalized home care by partnering with experts and associations in specific diseases based on their client census.
“Bringing this caliber of expert knowledge into the home care setting with innovative app technology is a first,” Seth Sternberg, co-founder and CEO of Honor, said in a press release. “Our mission is to help loved ones grow older in their own homes with joy, comfort and grace. For millions of people living with conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, our care pros are now equipped to deliver on this promise—not only providing expert personalized care, but also being better equipped to provide support for clients and their families.”
Written by Amy Baxter
Photos courtesy of Honor.
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