My mom is 85 and living independently, but the small things piled up — the missed pills, the days she barely drinks water, the moods that shift like weather. She recently decided it was time to stop driving and I altered my work schedule to take her to appointments. My brothers both live a few hours away, so the majority of these small tasks and check-ins fall on my shoulders. “How’s Mom?” is a text that I dread because the honest answer never fits in a text.
After a recent procedure, we decided it was time to bring in a home care agency to help mom out a few days a week – starting with things like laundry and meal prep. Mom’s home care aide introduced us to the Maia app during our orientation – and it’s been a game changer.
Mom’s agency invited me to join her “Care Circle” — a group of individuals who provide support for the designated older adult. We invited my brothers into the Care Circle and suddenly they weren’t bystanders anymore. When I logged that Mom skipped breakfast again, they saw it in real time. When I recorded a quick audio note after a hard afternoon, my voice shaking a little, they heard the tension of that day. The text message Care Stream became the place where we all communicated. The shared event calendar ended the chaos of cardiologist appointments and refill dates living only in my head. For the first time on this journey, I felt like there was a “we”.
What helps us most are the Care Snapshots. Every morning my brothers read Maia’s Care Snapshot. Before doctor appointments, I ask Maia to summarize the past month. Instead of trying to remember every detail, we walk in with a clear picture of what’s changed.
Maia Care made my family and mom’s home care aides true partners.