Thrivor, a new Australian business with a mission to dramatically improve the experience of those affected by cancer and other chronic illnesses, recently launched.
Thrivor seeks to provide a practical, seamless end-to-end experience for people outside of the hospital, helping to better navigate their daily lives and organise support through the app’s features in a fragile and confusing time.
Justin McLean, a global PwC strategy partner, launched his vision for the app following his own personal experiences as well as global research into the pain points experienced by patients and carers in the US, the UK and Australia.
The role of mobile solutions is only beginning to be utilised in the health sector, unlike other sectors which have already seen rapid development. Thrivor aims to empower those faced with a health crisis, putting them in the best possible position to thrive day to day, no matter what their prognosis.
What is the story behind Thrivor?
Founder, Justin McLean, was in his 40s, was fit and healthy and at the prime of his corporate career when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Overnight his life changed. After 13 months of treatment, McLean’s mother was then immediately diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and sadly passed away a year later.
Through his gruelling personal experience, Justin experienced the treatment journey as both a patient and carer. He learned that while the healthcare system delivered on its promise to treat the cancer and diseases generally, there were profound gaps and inconsistencies in care around life outside of the hospital.
“For the most part, treatment can be lonely and fragmented. You don’t get any preparation or training on how to deal with this type of situation. For me, 90% of my entire cancer experience was spent outside of the hospital, which can be paralysing for patients trying to navigate through their journey. Thrivor is an end-to-end experience, providing support and assistance to navigate through this often-bewildering world,” explained Justin McLean.
How does Thrivor work?
The app, which is free to download, is a practical solution for life beyond medical intervention, enabling people to be better prepared. Platform providers and app features allow users to manage and record appointments, organise transport to treatment, hire a cleaner or a babysitter, book a home visit nurse and most importantly connect support networks.
Based on research and experience it seeks to provide assistance for the day to day matters for a sufferer and their network, which is not at the forefront of priorities for the medical profession.
Personal networks are the most underutilised resource in care, despite those within them wanting to give enormously. Thrivor allows people to unleash the dormant power of their support network and create an organised, efficient and powerful community they can easily access at their fingertips.
“There is definite need for a mobile solution like Thrivor in Australia to support patients and their networks. As a nation, we need to consider promising new tech solutions to help solve the challenge of caring more effectively. I’ve had experience of similar approaches in the UK that have demonstrated highly encouraging results for the patient and carer community. Thrivor has the exciting potential to improve the global experience for patients and empower them during their treatment journey,” said Dr Jagdeesh Singh Dhaliwal, Melbourne GP.
Already Thrivor has an impressive list of providers including Uber, Better Caring, Hipages, Prezzee and Sittr, further contributing to the seamless experience.
What exactly does Thrivor have to offer?
Thrivor aims to solve everyday challenges for people with cancer and chronic illness outside of their medical care. The app is free and available on iPhone or Android devices. Features include:
– A support crew feature that enables a patient to build a network of family, friends around them to care for them in a coordinated way throughout their health challenge.
– Appointment functionality allows you to manage medical appointments and record these important conversation and details on your smartphone and then share them with those in your crew who need to be updated.
– An integration with Uber allows people to manage transport to and from health appointments. Hospital carparks are a constant frustration for those who have experienced them.
– Prezzee allows anyone in a person’s network to send them a gift
– Better Caring allows you to hire independent care and support workers for domestic assistance and personal care services.
– Hipages allows you to arrange cleaning and gardening services and more
– Sittr allows you to easily hire a vetted babysitter to help look after your family while you are at an appointment or while you care for someone else who is
– The chat feature allows people to connect with their support crew and update and communicate with them seamlessly in one transaction not many.
– A task creation feature lets users create tasks for their support network to help, which could be as simple as dropping off a pre-prepared dinner
