Health tech rolls in from across the straits
Caregiving services platform aims to sign on 1,000 caregivers in three years
SINGAPORE-based care-giving startup Homage has rolled out its services in the central region in Malaysia and is eyeing nation-wide growth in the near future.
The caregiving services platform combines qualified care professionals with smart technology to provide on-demand home caregiving services for seniors.
“My co-founder Lily Phang and I saw the pressing need for holistic care services that not only met our seniors’ medical needs, but also help them be more mobile and functional, providing emotional and social care to them in the comfort of their own homes. So we started Homage to help our loved ones age with grace, control and dignity. We wanted to build a service we could trust our own parents with.
“Ultimately, we also want to help give family members and primary caregivers respite, helping them self care so they can continue to be a support to those around them,” said Gillian Tee, chief executive officer and co-founder of Homage.
Malaysia’s Healthcare National Key Economic Area estimated that the country will reach ageing nation status in just 10 years, with more than 15% of the population being aged 60 and over by then. Homage sees the urgent need to revamp the state of aged care in the country and is supporting efforts to improve the standard of aged care by mobilising and activating a local caregiving workforce.
Caregivers under Homage are local citizens who have met stringent selection criteria. This includes multi-tiered interview processes, thorough background checks as well as training sessions.
Homage then uses its proprietary smart technology to match care professionals with recipients according to their specific needs.
The platform utilises real-time home care data to provide 24/7 visibility between the care recipients, care owners and care professionals. This allows for full visibility on the persons being cared for and helps to ease the entire caregiving process, such as managing visits, payments and care reporting.
The company has been growing its team of care professionals in Malaysia and aims to bring onboard 100 care professionals in 2019, as well as sign up 1,000 in three years’ time to support its growing client base.
“The last few months have been a great learning opportunity for us since we had soft launched our solution in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, our first two major states in Malaysia,” said Kevin Hoong, Homage Malaysia’s head of expansion.
“Over our many conversations with the families here, we find that they struggle to seek the right caregiver for their loved ones due to the opacity of information and processes out there. Many of them require temporary relief either due to their work commitments, or when their helpers go on holiday. This is when our care professionals can step in to help, as even a few hours a day goes a long way to help the family members,” he added.