2nd Circle is the up and coming Facebook app that promises to reduce the stress on family caregivers by making it easier for their family and friends to provide practical and emotional support to them on Facebook. This in turn should prevent a vicious circle that often can turn caregivers into patients.
There are some 50 million family caregivers in the U.S. who spend an equivalent of $450 billion per year on these activities, averaging 20 hours a week.According to the company behind this project, the work of family caregivers is an essential part of American healthcare; there are some 50 million family caregivers in the U.S. who spend an equivalent of $450 billion per year on these activities, averaging 20 hours a week. 46% of these individuals give up many social activities, and their life expectancy could be cut by as much as 10 years.
2nd Circle wants to tackle this problem with its low-cost, self-directed community-of-interest to enhance caregivers’ autonomy and mastery, improving caregivers’ resilience and motivation along the way. Instead of launching a brand-new social network — which is what competitors are doing — the plan is to tune into Facebook’s existing pool of users and add features that are relevant to caregiving.
The company is looking to raise $30,000 at Kickstarter, and plans to use the proceeds to create a basic version of the app. Said [basic] features will be free to use, with 2nd Circle relying on Facebook ads to pay its bills. Going forward, they will introduce premium capabilities for those willing to pay for them.