Start-up uses internet tools to make home care easier

TWO FORMER Intel executives are hoping to transform the provision of healthcare in the home for older people by initially harnessing tools such as Skype, Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk.

HealthComms, a start-up founded by Tom Byrne and Paul Mooney, will shortly release MyHomeReach, a communications platform that allows older people living at home to contact friends, family or professional care-givers easily.

The system, which currently runs on Windows but will ultimately be available on any device, supports full video conferencing through Skype and instant messaging, or will simply send the recipient a text if they are not online.

Chief operations officer Paul Mooney says the user interface has been designed to be as simple as possible and the user will interact with the system through a touch screen. As well as enabling communications by simply touching a picture of the person with whom they want to communicate, the system can provide reminders and record activities.

“A system like this generates a lot of anecdotal information that allows caregivers make better decisions,” says Mooney.

“For example, if a message is displayed and not acknowledged it can notify others in the care network to investigate.”

The idea for the business came after the two founders volunteered for a corporate social responsibility project while at Intel, which involved bringing PC technology to a nursing home in Leixlip.

Mr Byrne, who is chief executive, said he was impressed by the improvement in the wellbeing of a resident who was set up with Skype to contact his son in Japan.

“He was 78 years old and hadn’t had a visit from his family for 10 years,” says Byrne. “We enabled Skype in his room and, as a result, he saw his grandson, who he had never met, for the first time.”

HealthComms is one of six start-ups which has just completed the Propeller Venture Accelerator programme, part of the DCU Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship.