Mangaluru: Lauren Jayapreeth, a second-year BSW student from the School of Social Work at Roshni Nilaya, launched a startup aimed at providing personalised companionship services to senior citizens.SaathiShift focuses on enhancing social interaction, emotional well-being, and daily support for the elderly. Companions offer engaging conversations, shared activities, and short outings to combat loneliness and promote joy in daily life. Support extends to practical daily needs, including medication reminders, organising personal documents, scheduling appointments, and coordinating transport for errands or visits. Customised plans are tailored to each family’s preferences, ensuring reliable, structured assistance without household chores or medical administration.In 2023, Lauren spent a year in Australia, where he witnessed the quality of care for senior citizens. This experience planted the seed for SaathiShift. “That phase was a turning point,” Lauren said. “I observed how seniors in Melbourne receive dedicated companionship and assistance, which highlighted the vital role of emotional presence in elder care,” he said,Inspired by this experience, Lauren returned to India and decided to pursue a degree in social work. He began researching the challenges faced by senior citizens, particularly those living alone. He interacted with professionals such as Dr Lavina Noronha from the Luminara Group and conducted surveys in Mumbai and Mangaluru to understand the needs of elderly individuals and their families. In Aug , he began working on the pilot programme and launched it on Dec 14 in collaboration with his childhood friend and software developer Anirudh MC, who oversees the technical aspects of the platform. Dora Jayathilak joined the initiative as care coordinator.Before the launch, Lauren invited applications from individuals interested in becoming companions for senior citizens. About 50 people responded, of whom 35 were interviewed. After behavioural assessments and psychometric tests, 15 companions were selected and trained. The cohort includes students, working professionals, homemakers, MSc counselling students from Roshni Nilaya, retired nurses, and teachers.SaathiShift is partnering with the Luminara Group for mental health services when required and also as training partners for the companions. “Many senior citizens in Mangaluru live alone as their children are mostly employed abroad or in cities such as Bengaluru and Mumbai. Companions even take them out for short outings. Plans are customised based on individual family requirements. The companions do not administer medicines or perform household chores,” Lauren said.SaathiShift’s platform fully digitises the experience, with companions checking in and out via the app during visits to provide families with real-time updates and transparency. Matches between companions and seniors are carefully curated based on language, interests, and compatibility for optimal connections.
