Family members play an increasingly important role in providing safe and competent care for loved ones with dementia living at home. Informal caregivers often provide care while juggling a career and family responsibilities, which can take a toll on their mental health, well-being, and finances. They have limited access to training on how to provide quality care, and that gap is particularly notable post-discharge from hospital. Enter Canadian company Trualta.
Trualta creates training and support tools, conveyed through bite-sized video clips, to help family caregivers build the skills they need to assist loved ones in continuing to live at home safely. Video topics include managing challenging behaviours such as wandering and lowering the risk of falls, which can be especially dangerous for individuals living with dementia.
Trualta came to The Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) with a developed solution that had not yet been validated in a real-world setting, limiting its ability for adoption. CABHI arranged consultations with our Seniors Advisory Panel, a consumer panel comprised of older adults with lived experience in aging and caregiving, who provided critical feedback on the solution regarding usability and additional suggested content.
Funding from CABHI’s Industry Innovation Partnership Program (I2P2) is enabling Trualta to demonstrate that its product improves health outcomes for individuals living with dementia, reduces the burden on their caregivers, and prevents re-admission to hospital emergency rooms – thus, reducing the extent of hallway healthcare.
“Collaborating with CABHI has been game-changing. It’s allowed us to set the groundwork for significant expansion across Canada and the US.”
CABHI has directly helped Trualta magnify its national and international reach, while expanding its roster of investors and employees. CABHI connected Trualta with two trial sites, one in Toronto and another in Florida, where the company is testing its product with more than 100 family caregivers.
“The ability to fund a trial in Canada and the United States is something that is distinctive about CABHI, compared to other funding applications we have underway,” says Trualta founder Jonathan Davis. “Collaborating with CABHI has been game-changing. It’s allowed us to set the groundwork for significant expansion across Canada and the US.”
CABHI also introduced Trualta to potential customers in Canada and the United States to increase their revenue stream. A Kansas City agency became their first US customer, which opened channels to another US opportunity, currently in contract. These contacts then assisted Trualta with identifying 600 potential American agencies to target with significant potential for sales, helping the company expand and bringing income to the Ontario-based company. CABHI is also introducing Trualta to venture capitalists (VCs) and banks to secure financing.
CABHI even helped build part of Trualta’s staff. Through CABHI facilitation, Trualta was introduced to and subsequently hired highly skilled staff.
CABHI is facilitating the export of this Canadian innovation across Canada and the US, and it has achieved all of these milestones in less than a year. With CABHI’s support, Trualta is on its way to making a tangible impact in the lives of family caregivers and their loved ones living with dementia in Ontario, Canada, and around the world.
