VillageCare is the first support portal designed for professionals and for all those children who care for a vulnerable parent. So that leaving work to do so doesn't become the only option.
In Italy, there are around 8 million children who care for an elderly parent. They are mostly women between the ages of 45 and 60 who find themselves supporting one or both of their now-elderly parents with daily activities or in critical situations, such as when the elderly person has a disability. VillageCare was created precisely for this reason: to meet the needs of a continuously growing elderly population and to support caregiver families.
Founded in Milan in 2016 by Silvia Turzio, VillageCare — which has joined the LifeGate Way ecosystem, the group's subsidiary aimed at creating a network of sustainable startups with a focus on open innovation — has built an online platform that has become a true "compass" for guiding and finding solutions for those who have elderly parents to care for.
Among the many care services and support options available for the elderly, VillageCare stands as a point of reference for guidance and management of all kinds of vulnerability, from minor domestic assistance through to the full-time presence of a live-in carer or the search for residential facilities. "Our goal is to meet the need that many people have to be guided, accompanied and informed in order to find the best solution in their area, and ultimately to get them to act on it," explains Silvia Turzio.
But to fully grasp the scale of the phenomenon, one need only look at the figures: in Italy there are 13.5 million people aged over 65. This is the largest segment of the population, accounting for 22.3 per cent of the total. Among those over 65, at least 6 million are living with forms of vulnerability linked to ageing, but the most critical situation concerns the 4 million elderly people who are unable to live independently, half of whom are cared for directly by their children.
VillageCare steps in here with an all-female team that has handled and resolved more than eight thousand requests for help from families. "We know very well the difficulties that a family member faces when they need to find reliable help in order to care for their elderly parent in the best possible way," explains Turzio. "First and foremost, it is daughters who look after elderly parents." Indeed, most requests come from them: career-driven professionals who may live far from their parents and who turn to VillageCare to find the best solution locally. The startup is in fact able to handle requests from across the whole of Italy and has a strong presence in Lombardy and in major cities, also thanks to various partnerships.
VillageCare offers a wide range of services to guide anyone looking for the best solution for an elderly person, whether a parent or a spouse. Among the most sought-after is the Respite Holidays service. "We study, identify and design, together with tourism partners, protected stays at hotels and renowned holiday resorts where elderly people can enjoy a social and safe holiday. This way, families can take a break too."
But beyond its direct offering to families, VillageCare is growing in the B2B space with a range of corporate services and consultancy on Longevity market opportunities. "We will continue to work with our partners on the ground and above all with companies," concluded Silvia Turzio, "and today we are present on five corporate welfare platforms used by 5 million workers." In short, VillageCare is tackling one of the major issues facing Italy — the progressive ageing of the population, which is not being counterbalanced by an equally progressive rise in the birth rate — and it does so with great insight and freshness, stepping in precisely where the need is greatest now and will continue to be in the future.
