I’m a health-tech lover who is passionate about disrupting and innovating, to solve important problems that improve lives.
I know that great software blended with wearable technology and data science, can play a critical role in our health. I also know that a thoughtfully designed consumer health-tech experience will positively impact those who need it most. ‘Know-how’ however, sometimes needs to be mixed with a good dose of personal experience and insight, to create something that can be truly transformative. Today I’m incredibly proud to launch Careology.
Careology was created to effectively support people going through a Cancer journey. Our intelligent technology helps make things a little less complicated at a time when they’re already complicated enough. We believe in one simple statement; you may be a patient, but you’re still the same person you were before your diagnosis. Just with new challenges to confront.
But Careology is more than just a good idea. It’s more than just a gap in the market. It’s a deeply personal journey. We cling on to the belief that lessons learnt during difficult days will (eventually) unearth a silver lining. We just never know when...
Paul Landau, Founder & CEO, Careology
In 2004, I sat down and set out the vision for Fitbug. I saw the huge potential for technology to coach and motivate people to achieve their fitness goals. In Jan 2005 Fitbug hit the market, and in the ensuing 10 years the ‘wearables’ sector was firmly established. By 2015, Fitbug had been joined by the likes of Nike, Jawbone, Fitbit and the first generation Apple Watch.
There was nothing I loved more than reading our Member of the Month articles that told the stories of people who had achieved life-changing health benefits by getting more active and improving their diets, with a good dose of help and encouragement from our technology.
However, changing people’s behaviour and lifestyle is hard. It takes willpower, determination, knowledge and a great deal of support. Unfortunately, too many devices end up in the bedside drawers of the people who purchased them full of good intentions.
I knew from the outset that devices are merely ‘enablers’. To deliver the true potential of wearable-tech and sensors we needed to use the data collected by them effectively. We had to provide an engaged, ‘coaching’ experience, guiding, advising, motivating and steering people towards their goals.
Fitbug Orb
"It is what you do with the data, and how you put it to work, which will ultimately determine how effective you can be in supporting people towards the outcomes the desire."
In April 2015 I was invited to present alongside Accenture Interactive at HIMSS - the leading health information and technology conference in the US. I presented my deeply held belief, that if we want the healthcare sector to adopt digital technology in a way that would ultimately deliver meaningful health outcomes, we need to find a sweet-spot that bridges the gap between the consumer health and wellness sectors and apply those lessons to the med-tech space.
Ultimately, how can we develop really effective technology and design it so patients will actually love using it!?
When I stood on that podium, banging my drum, I did so blissfully unaware of the diagnosis that was months away from changing the course of my family’s lives.
HIMSS 2015“In hindsight, this presentation was a massive sliding doors moment."
It just got personal.
As with any cancer diagnosis, this news was devastating.
My wife received the news that she had Hodgkin Lymphoma, an aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system, when she was 34 years old. She was 35 weeks pregnant and truly ‘blooming’ - looking as fit as a pregnant fiddle!
I watched her go through six months of gruelling chemo. Consume thousands of pills (often struggling to remember if she’d taken them). Contend with two neutropenic infections, endless blood tests, transfusions, biopsies, scans, appointments... the list goes on!
Connecting to Caregivers
She became so sick of being sick. And it struck me that despite being so unwell, she didn’t want to be a nuisance. We'd often debate whether she really had to let her nurses know about the side effects she was suffering. She'd always want to avoid going back to hospital for more prodding.
During treatment, you make daily judgement calls. Deciding what’s normal and what’s not… when you should pick up the phone and seek advice or not. There’s so much to manage and keep on top of. So much onus is placed on patients and their families to make important decisions that can have very serious consequences if wrong.
I couldn’t help but spot the clear need to effectively support people going through treatment by creating great ‘consumerised’ software, enhanced by wearable tech and sensors, to provide greater control and vital tools.
I wanted to connect people with a cancer diagnosis to their family and friends, and to their clinicians, to give peace of mind that if something needs attention, the people that matter know about it quickly and have the data and insights to enable them to act proactively - even predict what was coming before things become more severe.
Careology was born.
Over the last 18 months, we've built Careology, a solution that approaches cancer care differently. Working tirelessly to create an insight driven solution. Employing consumer-oriented design, blended with clinically robust thinking and data science.
Careology not only provides important tools, but also looks and feels like any great app you'd want to use.
"We are creating Careology for people, not patients"
Ultimately, Careology will transform how people with a cancer diagnosis (plus family & friends) are supported, and critically, how their healthcare team interacts with them, to ensure better outcomes at reduced costs.
Through a unique data set, we will deliver insights and algorithms, that will enable transformational benefits for the provision of care and drug discovery.
I hope you love Careology. We're just at the start of our Careology journey. As a team we’re incredibly passionate about what we’re creating and the benefits we can deliver for the 18m people diagnosed every year.
We're always keen to hear any feedback, suggestions, ideas or opportunities, so please get in touch. (paul@careology.health)
Paul
