Necessity is the mother of invention. When there’s a need, there’s always a way. However, it often takes someone with an entrepreneurial spirit to put an idea into action. Having treated thousands of seniors across North America, and at the internationally respected Cleveland Clinic and Trillium Health Partners, Dr. Vipan Nikore was well aware that alternatives to long-term care facilities were required to support our aging population in areas that were never anticipated. “We don’t have the resources in place to handle the demand,” says Nikore.

Nikore is also an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and the global Chief Medical Director of TD Bank. Along with his co-founders, Rahim Lalani, Brian Kwan, and Jay Vaghela, they began designing their vision of the future of home care in 2016. Once they created the front-line technology to support their initiative, they launched Homecare Hub in February of 2020. The timing wasn’t in their favour due to the pandemic, and some of the programs that were intended to bring seniors together had to wait until restrictions eased. Now, with an all-star team in place, they are receiving requests from Toronto to Hawaii.

Searching for assistance

If you’ve ever tried to access government resources or benefits, you’re aware that it takes a degree in forensic navigation just to gain entry to a possible program, and then it depends upon any number of conditions before you know if you even qualify. The time, frustration and heartache are seldom worth it.

If you live in a two-person household, you both receive OAS and CPP. But if you live alone out of choice, or if you are divorced or your partner has passed, you’re expected to survive without further support for a single-person household. In order to qualify for the Guaranteed Income Supplement in Canada, you have to live far below the poverty line to even be considered. Affordable care options are needed, but sourcing them out can be challenging.

Finding a dedicated team that can assist with pointing you in the right direction is sorely needed. Currently, contacting one government agency turns out to be a game of pass the call from one person to the next in a system that can no longer handle the capacity. Homecare Hub is attempting to fill this void by helping seniors to navigate the existing government programs, while creating innovative solutions to augment available resources.

Shared living homes

Unique to Homecare Hub is their shared living and care homes. As an alternative to a long-term care facility, two to eight neighbouring residents are paired in a home environment. This not only helps to reduce costs, lower caregiver burnout, reduce hospital admissions and centralize health tracking, but it also helps with social isolation by uniting people with similar interests, cultural backgrounds and care requirements.

Homecare Hub rents, or purchases, homes on demand to accommodate those who would most benefit. “This arrangement provides accommodation, care and meals at a lower cost,” says Nikore. “And we arrange the level of nursing care and all the services that are required – as much, or as little, as needed. It’s all customized as a result of layering various levels of high-quality care.”

By matching support similarities, shared living homes provide a cost-effective alternative to assisted living options.

Adult day programs 

Another service provided by Homecare Hub is the implementation of pre-arranged day programs. Offering a variety of opportunities, these gatherings might be hosted at a local church, at a recreation centre or in someone’s home. Agendas are scheduled to run between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and are intended to help reduce social isolation, and provide relief for caregivers and family members. Unique programming, planned events or shared meals are just some of the enjoyable activities that are available. With the use of their sophisticated technology, Homecare Hub’s ability to create hyper local arrangements is proving to be the dedicated assistance that so many require.

A central hub of information

Because so many people get lost in the system, Homecare Hub has created a solution to help connect individuals with qualified caregivers and quality services right in their own neighbourhood – providing complete wrap-around-care for seniors.

And, because each individual has a specific set of needs, a defined budget and personal requirements, each home care agency is vetted through Homecare Hub and hand-picked based on their reputation and the services that they offer.

Contact them at 1-888-227-3080, info@homecarehub.com or visit Homecarehub.ca.