I am beyond excited to announce the launch of CareChamp established in November 2016. CareChamp was born out of the desire to start a business that brings more joy to the life of the elderly and assist their families as best as possible with the challenges that age might bring as well as to create job opportunities in South Africa. CareChamp provides a service to select and match certified, vetted and insured carers (we call them "Champs") for clients' requirements & to streamline processes such as scheduling, payments and care reports.
But let's take a step back and let me reveal my biggest personal motivation for this venture: This business is dedicated to my beloved grandmother, Maria, who passed in May 2015 at the proud age of 92 in Austria (where I am from).
My gran, who is my role model, was born in 1923 in Sudeten-Germany (which is now part of Czech Republic), had lived the 2nd World War and worked in Russia, had to flee and leave her home country, moved to Austria and raised 2 children, 4 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren. My fondest memory of her is that she was always incredibly content and only saw the positive in her life.
Up to age 91 my gran lived completely independently. Then Dementia started and she could not stay by herself anymore.
My mother and aunt tried to find a suitable caregiver for my gran, but after two trials gave up as matchmaking proved difficult and changing to another care provider was linked to a lengthy process.
Unfortunately, this was a frustrating and very costly experience and eventually, my grandmother agreed to move out of her house in which she had lived in for just under 70 years and to move to a retirement village. Whilst my gran put up a very brave face and never once complained to us - I believe that losing her "independence" which critically was linked to her home - was a direct contribution to the events that followed very quickly. Now don't quote me wrong, I know there are cases where moving an elderly person eventually might be necessary - I just strongly believe that often elderly move out of their home or are being moved too early and hence miss out on a couple of wonderful months or years to last in their own home, due to the lack of good alternatives.
This is where the idea of CareChamp arose to provide great quality in-home nursing services that are short or long-term, easy to swap and change, safe & secure, allow you the independence to pre-select your desired care providers and make use of technology to improve match-making, scheduling, payments, and reporting.
To end off I'd like to share some interesting stats from research conducted by the AARP (www.aarp.org).
90% of seniors say they want to age in their homes for as long as possible.
Even if they begin to need day-to-day assistance or ongoing health care during retirement, most (82 percent) would prefer to stay in their homes.
Only a few express a preference for moving to a facility where care is provided (9 percent) or for moving to a relative’s home (4 percent).
Living under one’s own rules is a key reason for staying in one’s own home, with 42 percent of seniors choosing it as one of their top three considerations.
69% of caregivers who are direct family ("family caregivers) responding to an online survey admitted that caregiving was their number one source of stress, higher than even economic downturn and other family health problems.
Now fast forward to September 2023
In addition to providing elder care, I’ve witnessed a rising demand for baby and child care, particularly for nanny services. Recognizing this trend, I decided it was time to expand our offerings. Thus, I’m excited to announce the launch of our own accredited COLLEGE, where we'll provide comprehensive training to meet the growing demands in both elder and child care.
At CareChamp, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of families in need of care, whether they are elders, children, or adults. Our journey is just beginning, and we look forward to the opportunities to bring joy and support to more lives.
Sylvia Klopper, Founder CareChamp