BOCA RATON, Fla. – February 16, 2018 – In honor of National Caregiver Day and caregiving families, MobileHelp®, a leader in mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (mPERS) and health management solutions, today announced a new program with the American Association of Caregiving Youth® (AACY), designed to provide support to youth caregivers and their families.
To that end, MobileHelp is partnering with the AACY to launch an initiative that will provide both medical alert equipment and service free of charge to families who have a member that needs access to emergency help, but who are not able to afford a subscription service. This support at home will allow the youth caregivers to attend school, play sports or enjoy some time with friends – knowing their loved one has access to help if they need it.
“Our company was founded on the idea that access to emergency help is as equally critical to the person using our system as it is to those who care for and love them,” said Dennis Boyle, President and COO of MobileHelp. “The locally-operated AACY has grown into a national organization with much the same purpose: by supporting the youngest among us who carry the responsibility of caregiving, we strengthen them and the community as a whole.”
According to the AACY, “Caregiving Youth” are children and adolescents who are 18 years of age or younger and who provide significant or substantial assistance, often on a regular basis, to relatives or household members who need help because of physical or mental illness, disability, frailty associated with aging, substance misuse, or other condition. In taking on adult responsibilities, youth often sacrifice their education, health, well-being and childhood; they are at-risk for dropping out of school.
MobileHelp will work with the AACY to distribute ten of its SOLO or Classic systems to families with youth caregivers, and will then help them designate the right level of emergency service monitoring for each member, to create an additional safety net around each family. This support allows caregiving youth to be away from home, with the peace of mind that their family member has the extra support they need.
“Connecting our families to companies that can help us provide the assistance they need and reduce the stress on the child helps us fulfill our mission,” said Connie Siskowski, RN, PhD, President of the AACY. “We are thankful and look forward to the work we can do with MobileHelp to provide select Caregiving Youth Project participants and their families with an ongoing solution to help them feel safe and improve their lives.”
“We are honored to partner with the AACY and to support the critical work they do within our community,” said Mr. Boyle. “We look forward to fostering an ongoing relationship with them.”