User:Thomsv17/friendsoutlet

PROJECT VISHRAM (Support Services for Senior Citizens & their Care-Givers)

Project ‘Vishram’ is a Cost Effective monitored support service linking existing Service providers of the surroundings to the elderly and their care givers. It is an Assisted Living option for the growing numbers of the elderly at one’s own residence. Services at the door step would help Senior Citizens remain integrated in society without feeling isolated or abandoned. It can be easily scaled to Multiple Locations at Low Costs. In addition, with advances in Tele-Medicine, we would have better Home Health Care minimizing Hospitalization. It is NOT a substitute for Old Age Homes or Geriatric Wards of Hospitals and NOT for Emergencies.

THE NEED: The elderly cherish independence. ‘Project Vishram’ is to help 'Care Givers' / elderly manage routine needs independently in familiar surroundings. The family/children including NRIs far away from home would feel assured that some ‘Back up’ support is available.

HOW IT WORKS

SMART PHONE APPLICATION 'Project Vishram' uses a Smart Phone Application built for 'Relationship Managers' (RMs). The RM would be the link between the the Elderly and/or Care Giver and the required Service (Medical & Non Medical) Provider. Users are to call the Smart Phone No of the Project. Calls from Registered end users would reach the RMs of the locality. There would be Multiple RMs in the same locality (using GPS positioning).

SERVICE FACILITATION The task of the RM would be to identify and understand the need of the Elderly person / Care Giver. The RM would contact the appropriate App of the Service Provider pre-loaded (for most of the services) on the smart phone. RMs would also have the option of contacting select service providers by phone and connect them to the end user. The RM would keep monitoring till the need is met. Pre-loaded Smart Phones with the Apps ​c​ould be made available on hire to end users or Care Givers who would be encouraged to use Smart Phones themselves. The existing range of support services like Big Basket, OLA, Portea, etc can be accessed instead of creating separate infrastructure.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGERS (RMs): could be persons with disability, housewives, students and others who could work from home with or without an honorarium. The RMs are to be preferably from the same locality of the Elderly for better bonding. Multiple end users would be assigned to Multiple RMs of the locality (using GPS).

SERVICE PROVIDERS: Multiple Service Providers through existing Apps would be em-paneled for each service. They would be serving a social cause while enlarging their customer base. About 5 % of the payments received would be negotiated for sustaining the operations and to offer discounts to the members.

PAYMENTS Payments to service providers could be made through any of the existing 'Payment Gateways' like Paytm, Momoe, etc from a deposit maintained for each Registered Member of Vishram. Toppings needs to be maintained by each member. Group rates would be negotiated. A small commission of about 3 to 5 % would be deducted / added to the Bill of the service provider to meet the expenditure of sustaining Project Vishram.

POSSIBLE SERVICES: Medical: Doctors for home visit / Tele / Video Consultation, Trained Nurses, Home Nurse Services, Medical/Lab tests, Physiotherapy, Ambulance, Link with Hospitals Non Medical: Maintenance & Repairs, Welding, Phone, Computer / TV Maintenance, Painting, Cooking / House keeping, Purchase of grocery/vegetables, Courier Services, Taxi or Auto service / Drivers, Food from Catering Units, Bills Payment, Assist Banking / Shopping, Train / Bus /Air Tickets, Any other services based on need

STAFFING: RMs could be Persons with Disability, Senior Citizens/ Housewives/ Ex-servicemen / College Students etc. They could operate from their own homes with/without honorarium.

SIZE: A network of hubs is planned. Each hub would cover a radius of about 3 to 5 Kms to serve about 300 members each. The number will be restricted to ensure quality services with low membership fees. Networking between hubs would optimize resources.

MEMBERSHIP: Senior Citizens and their 'Care Givers' are the target users. Those joining the scheme would get services at negotiated rates from service providers. Services will be open for others too (other than Seniors). This would help to build larger volumes of users in a shorter time. Low numbers of membership at start would help to fine tune the system. Membership is expected to reach the target of 300 in 36 months mostly by word of mouth of satisfied users, family members or Care Givers.

FINANCIAL VIABILITY & RATES PAYABLE BY USERS FOR SERVICES: a) Members pay for services used through a deposit with existing payment Gateways managed by the RMs. b) Group discount rates will be attempted for services when routed through 'Project Vishram'. c) Sponsors could donate to support Senior Citizens who have financial constraints.

PILOT UNIT OF 'PROJECT VISHRAM' The pilot unit is being launched at Jal Vayu Vihar, Kammanahalli, Bangalore where office space and an operator is already available.