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In the U.S., there are 63 million individuals supporting family members with an ailment or disability. This equates to one in four adults dedicating their time to assisting loved ones with tasks like transportation, meals, prescriptions, and medical appointments.
Caregiving imposes a tremendous strain on those who take on this responsibility, and ianacare aims to alleviate this load. Founded by Steven Lee ’97, MEng ’98 and Jessica Kim, the company has developed a platform that aids caregivers in navigating available tools and nearby resources, cultivating a network of friends and family to assist with daily tasks, and organizing meals, transportation, and care schedules.
The name ianacare is an abbreviation of “I am not alone care.” The organization’s objective is to equip and empower the numerous individuals who undertake a challenging and underappreciated role in our community.
“Family caregivers are the unseen backbone of the health care system,” Lee states. “Without them, the health care system would genuinely fall apart, yet they remain largely unacknowledged. Ianacare serves as the initial access point for family caregivers. These individuals are frequently thrust into this role without training and direction. However, from the moment they begin, they must become specialists. Ianacare bridges that gap.”
The company has collaborated with employers and health care providers to support over 50,000 caregivers thus far. Thanks to partnerships with organizations such as Elevance Health, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and Medicare providers, its coordination and support tools are accessible to family caregivers nationwide.
“Ultimately, we aspire to create the most significant impact possible,” claims Lee. “From a business perspective, the 50,000 caregivers we’ve served is an impressive number. But in relation to the total population of caregivers that could benefit from our assistance, it is relatively small. We’re on a mission to support all 63 million caregivers.”
From ad tech to ianacare
During his time as an electrical engineering and computer science student at MIT in the 1990s, Lee conducted research on early speech-recognition technology within the Spoken Language Systems group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
After graduating, Lee co-founded a company with Waikit Lau ’97 that enhanced video advertising placement within streams. Though the company has undergone several mergers and acquisitions, it is now part of the public company Magnite, which positions ads on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+.
Lee departed the company in 2016 and began mentoring startups through programs such as MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service as he sought to engage in something he found more meaningful.
“Over the years, the MIT network has been invaluable for connecting with clients, attracting top talent, and engaging investors,” Lee explains. “So much innovation emerges from MIT, and I’ve cherished giving back, particularly alongside [VMS Venture Mentor] Paul Bosco ’95 and the rest of the VMS team. It’s incredibly fulfilling to share the best practices I’ve learned with the next generation of innovators.”
In 2017, Lee encountered Kim, who was caregiving for her mother with pancreatic cancer. Hearing about her experience reminded him of his own family’s struggles caring for his grandfather with Parkinson’s disease during his childhood.
“We recognized that the gaps in caregiving support from three decades ago still persist,” Lee notes. “Nothing has shifted.”
Officially launched in 2018, ianacare may seem distant from speech recognition or ad technologies, yet Lee views the initiative as an extension of his prior experiences.
“In my perspective, AI originated in speech recognition, and the intelligence we utilize to generate recommendations and create care plans for family caregivers employs many of the same statistical modeling techniques I applied in speech recognition and ad placement,” Lee asserts. “It all traces back to the foundation I received at MIT.”
The founders initially introduced a complimentary solution that enabled caregivers to connect with friends and family to organize caregiving responsibilities.
“In our app, you can collaborate with anyone willing to help,” Lee explains. “When you share a challenge with a friend or colleague, they invariably ask, ‘How can I assist?’ Yet caregivers seldom return to them and genuinely request help. On our platform, you can add those individuals to your informal care team and request assistance with tasks instead of needing to message someone directly, which you’re less likely to do.”
Subsequently, the founders developed an enterprise solution that allowed businesses to assist employee caregivers, adding features like resource directories and options to select various caregiving tools.
“An enormous amount of local resources exist, but few people are aware of them,” Lee shares. “For example, every county in the country has an Area Agency on Aging, but these agencies are not marketing specialists, and caregivers often don’t know where to seek guidance.”
Last year, ianacare began collaborating with AARP and health care providers involved in the nationwide GUIDE model (for “Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience”) to enhance the quality of life for dementia patients and their caregivers. Through this voluntary program, participants can utilize ianacare’s platform to coordinate care, access educational materials, and receive free respite care of up to $2,500 per year.
Lee states that the CMS partnership provides ianacare a route to reach millions of individuals caring for dementia patients nationwide.
“This is already a crisis, and it will exacerbate as we face an aging population and a capacity constraint in our health care system,” Lee states. “The population aged 65 and over is projected to double between 2000 and 2040. We won’t have three times the hospitals or three times the doctors or nurse practitioners. Therefore, we can either enhance clinician efficiency or shift more health care into homes. That is why we empower family caregivers.”
Aging with dignity
Lee recalls one family that utilized ianacare after their son was born with a severe illness. The child lived merely eight months, but during that time, the parents had meals delivered to them in the hospital by friends and family.
“It was something they didn’t have to be concerned about throughout their son’s lifetime,” Lee shares. “It’s been gratifying to assist these individuals in such dire need.”
Other ianacare users report that the platform has aided them in keeping their parents out of the hospital and reducing their anxiety and depression surrounding caregiving.
“Nobody wishes to die in a hospital, so we’ve worked diligently to respect the desires of loved ones who want to age at home,” Lee states. “We have numerous instances of individuals who, without our support, would have had to enter a nursing home or facility. Ianacare is present to ensure the home is secure and that caregivers can manage the care responsibilities. It’s beneficial for everyone since it’s also more economical for the health care system.”
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