The Challenge
Our aging population is creating one of the great challenges of the next 30 years: “The Crisis of Care.” There is an acute shortage of professional caregivers to support our aging population, and the number of unpaid family caregivers has reached 45 million in the United States.
But caring for a loved one involves a host of challenges. As people age, medical needs typically become more complex, and its not uncommon to have to manage up to a dozen different medications. Adult children or other family caregivers finds themselves spending more and more time on their loved one’s conditions: doctor’s appointments, managing medications, dietary needs, etc. The caregiver may find that they need to take the lead in managing health, reversing the “responsible parent”/ “dependent child” dynamic, which is often a source of stress or even conflict. At worse, the medical condition can become the main basis of the relationship at the expense of more meaningful interaction.
Stanley Black & Decker turned to Pillo Health to find an answer to this need, with a customized solution for its BLACK+DECKER brand that would make it easier for family caregivers to provide support to an aging loved one, while also empowering older adults to “age in place” in the comfort of their own homes. Since 1843, Stanley Black & Decker has been creating solutions to empower people to build, connect and protect the world. Their practical, meaningful products and services are designed to make life easier for customers and their families.
The Solution
Pria by BLACK+DECKER is the world’s first Home Care Companion designed specifically for family caregivers and their loved ones. Via a unique voice-first, secure interface, Pria is able to assist with daily tasks like dispensing medication, delivering health reminders and seamlessly connecting aging individuals at home to their care teams. Authorized family members use dedicated mobile applications (Apple iOS and Android) to monitor the health status of their loved ones, and can even video chat with from the app right to the Pria device.
The name “Pria” was inspired by a Hindu phrase that evokes the sense of wholesomeness the device intends to bring to the home.
A Tailored Partnership
The Pillo team worked with the Health@Home team of STANLEY Healthcare to understand how and when a voice-first, medication management solution would be most valuable to caregivers and their aging parents. We then jointly created a unique solution designed for this need. The flexibility and power of the Pillo Health platform, powered by Pillo Health’s proprietary Proactive Health Cloud™, enabled an efficient process while allowing a high degree of customization. In the case of Pria by BLACK+DECKER, this meant focusing on features that would appeal to aging adults and those who look after them – both in the device and a customized mobile app to connect caregivers to loved ones no matter where they are.
As the solution and device became ready for launch, Pillo Health and the STANLEY Healthcare Health@Home teams collaborated on qualitative and quantitative consumer research to refine the messaging and market positioning to appeal to Pria by BLACK+DECKER’s target audience of family caregivers. Pria launched in September 2019 and has garnered immediate interest among its target consumer segments.
