Humana and Seniorlink Offering Tech-Enabled Coaching to Dementia Caregivers

Expanding their existing relationship, Seniorlink and Humana are offering a program that provides additional care management and support to families caring for individuals with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The dementia management program, which covers Humana Medicare Advantage members, capitalizes on Seniorlink’s experience and expertise in supporting caregivers. Specifically, it gives caregivers access to Seniorlink coaches via Vela, the health services company’s centralized care collaboration app.

Humana At Home identifies and assists Humana Medicare Advantage members who have chronic conditions, struggle with day-to-day activities, and are hospitalized often. The company said the program is part of its commitment to broaden home-based offerings.

The expanded partnership is intended to widen caregiver support and give the companies a better understanding of how best to meet members’ needs. Program enrollment is expected to start late this month with about 500 caregivers initially. (Visit this site to see if services are offered locally.)

“Dementia, and especially Alzheimer’s disease, is challenging for families to manage,” said Thomas Riley, Seniorlink president and CEO, in a press release. “Joining forces with Humana At Home will enable us to provide quality care for its Medicare Advantage members with this disease, as well as for the family members responsible for their care.”

Offering education, support and streamlined case management services, the secure communication platform Vela enables real-time collaboration among interdisciplinary care team members — patients, case managers, care providers and family caregivers— resulting in improved outcomes at relatively lower costs, the company said.

It replaces what Seniorlink calls outdated and fragmented care coordination. For example, case managers may message individuals, groups or the whole team simultaneously, replacing phone calls, voicemails and often-inefficient siloed communication.

“We’re excited to expand our collaboration with Seniorlink to offer coaching and support to those helping to care for our members living with dementia,” said Cheri Greenfield La Tour, Humana senior vice president of home care operations. “We hope this additional level of support helps to alleviate the burden placed on these caregivers.”

There is a growing need for such services. By 2050, some 152 million individuals worldwide are expected to have dementia — up substantially from about 50 million today. Currently, there are about six million Alzheimer’s patients in the United States, a figure expected to more than double to 15 million by 2060. The global economic burden of such cases is rising commensurately, from $818 billion to more than $2 trillion by 2030.