Jessica Kim had run out of options.
In 2015, she had moved her aging parents in with her and her family to help care for her mom, who was battling pancreatic cancer. At the time, Kim had three kids at home, all 10 years old or younger, and was juggling a full-time job. Something had to give.
“We always talk about the sandwich generation, but this felt more like the panini generation — I was just oozing from all sides,” Kim says. “I’d always been a working mom, but this was different. I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t know how to find resources. My friends and family didn’t know how to show up, and clinicians expected me to know what to do.”
To accommodate her new caregiving responsibilities, which included providing nursing care to her mom and pumping her stomach multiple times a day, Kim made the tough decision to quit her job. When her mom passed in 2017, Kim’s
Read more:
“Eighty-six percent of Americans have a smartphone, which is technology that’s really only been around for 14 years,” Kim says. “We can leverage that to build an infrastructure to support care in the home. Because the solutions that already existed for caregiving only serve the hospitals and the healthcare system.”
With co-founder Steven Lee, Kim set out to create a
A social-networking function allows users to invite friends and family members, who can make themselves available to offer support, whether via car rides, meal prep, or child care.
Read more:
“Asking friends and family for help is the number one piece of advice clinicians will give caregivers, but it’s still an awkward burden to ask for that help — so Ianacare can mobilize that support,” Kim says.
The platform also connects users with localized resources and support programs. For caregivers whose employers provide Ianacare as a benefit, the app can help employees understand and utilize existing resources offered within their benefits plan, and access personalized coaches for human-to-human advice.
“We can match users to their available benefits based on what they’re saying their need is,” Kim says, noting that Ianacare currently partners with Anthem, helping the company’s employees access and navigate more than 60 resources already provided by the employer. “That’s good for the employee, and helps employers get the utilization of benefits they’re already paying for.”
Centralizing those various aspects of the caregiving journey doesn’t just provide support for the primary caregiver, but makes sure all involved parties are on the same page and coordinated in providing care.
Read more:
“Seventy percent of Ianacare interactions are tech-enabled, because technology is just more efficient and effective,” Lee says. “It’s great for making sure your family is coordinated on the treatment plan; everyone knows when and what meds need to be taken, for example.”
That’s an empowering experience for caregivers, who are often shouldering a huge responsibility in silence and uncertainty.
“When I was a caregiver for my mom, I felt isolated, and I didn’t feel empowered as her caregiver,” Kim says. Now, as she’s providing care to her father, who’s 82 years old, she’s leaning on Ianacare for support and empowerment. “I know where to go, I know what questions to ask. I’m not Googling things when I have a question.”
Read more:
Kim’s kids are now 14, 11 and nine, and as the CEO of a growing business, her schedule hasn’t gotten any easier to navigate. But her caregiving journey has.
“It’s such a different experience this time around,” she says. “It’s still hard and it’s still painful, but I have my support system.”
