New app delivers quality caregivers on demand
Asuccessful entrepreneur and single parent of two, Diane Lemire is frequently torn between the demands of her children’s many extracurricular activities: “We are a very busy household for just one parent, and I simply can’t be in two places at the same time.”
Lemire acknowledges she occasionally needs an extra pair of hands. But trying to schedule the time to find and evaluate caregivers only added to an ever-expanding to-do list. A solution wasn’t readily apparent until Lemire discovered BookJane.
BookJane is a mobile app that simplifies the task of finding a trusted caregiver for children, ailing family members and seniors. Launched this summer, BookJane’s growing database contains more than 4,000 applied caregivers. BookJane app has more than 800 qualified and extensively vetted professionals, including registered earlychildhood educators (RECEs) and personal support workers (PSWs).
BookJane is the brainchild of founder and chief executive officer Curtis Khan. Khan saw a broad need for fast and easy access to caregivers following a personal experience with his mother-in-law. “Trying to find suitable home care after her extended hospital stay was a challenge,” he says. “Government funding only provided care for up to three hours a week and can take weeks or even months for approval, but we needed someone longer-term. Going through an agency to find a qualified individual to fill the gap took a great deal of time and energy.”
Khan came up with the concept of an easy- to- use app to simplify and provide flexibility for the sandwich generation of today that is so time- stretched. In minutes, users can download the BookJane app and begin searching for a caregiver based on qualifications, services provided, language, gender, location and transportation, as well as a number of other criteria. They can also connect with a caregiver in-app before booking, and check reviews posted by other users. A click on the app calendar completes an engagement and, within hours, the chosen professional can be on the doorstep. Shortly after departure, cashless payment is completed using the customer credit card on file.
The safety and integrity of the service is paramount, says Khan. “Each professional is personally interviewed and pre-screened, and all qualifications are validated. Everyone undergoes a police check, vulnerable screening and reference checks, and all have both CPR and first-aid certification,” he says. “Caregivers also receive in-class orientation and ongoing training.”
BookJane services are currently available across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), bounded by Burlington, Oshawa and Newmarket. Expansion is on the horizon, however: A pilot project is currently underway in Vancouver, and Khan has plans to eventually offer the service across the country. “We are delivering the kind of empowerment that is becoming increasingly important to consumers,” he says.
Khan says the technology will change the face of health- care sector hiring in the not- too- distant future. “Caregivers want control over where and when they work. With BookJane, they can schedule their own availability, choose their work location and environment and receive a premium hourly rate while doing so,” he says. “Meanwhile, customers have the ability to select from among the top professionals in the sector and choose to hire the same caregiver time after time or work with a pool of available talent that meets their specific needs.”
Already, a number of hospitals and more than 180 child-care centres across the GTA are using BookJane services to complement their full-time staff. Corporate clients have also added BookJane to their roster of employee benefits, says Khan.
Lemire says she is happy to have found BookJane because it has eased the pressures on her daily life. Now she has an army of caregivers who are reliable and available on demand. It lets Lemire ensure her children can participate in their growing number of activities, or to book someone to be with them when there is an unexpected change in her itinerary. As an added bonus, she even schedules the occasional mom time. “BookJane is a gift that keeps on delivering,” she says.
BOOK JANE IS A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON DELIVERING