RALEIGH, N.C. — An online caregiver registry is working to change the elder care industry by making it more affordable and user friendly for families. And it's using AI technology to make a difference for patients.

What You Need To Know

  • CareYaya is a free caregiver registry hoping to make elder care more affordable by using college students who have or are pursuing a health care degree

  • CareYaya has around 4,000 caregivers across the country

  • In North Carolina, many of the caregivers are from N.C. State and UNC

Dezarae Stone, a caregiver from Raleigh-based CareYaya, helps Lisa White find clothes for the day as they prepare to go on a walk.

“Well, sometimes we'll go all the way around the neighborhood, which is like two miles, and we'll go in the woods. And then there's this area near water. We'll go and climb up and sit, and we'll look at the river then we'll look at pine cones and tree,” Stone said.

Stone is a recent graduate of UNC Chapel Hill taking a gap year working with CareYaya doing research focusing on dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

“It just means everything to me. It reminds me of taking care of my grandma. And this is the type of care I wish she was able to have. And so I always treat my patients like I would my grandma,” Stone said.

Stone’s grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at 54 from a traumatic brain injury, and White was diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer's in 2016.

“I'm able to go help others out who might not be able to afford the more expensive care and will, you know, cook or clean and go on walks and crafts and listen to music and just do so much more, or that Lisa enjoys and I enjoy,” Stone said.

CareYaya is a free caregiver registry hoping to make elder care more affordable by using college students who have or are pursing a health care degree. CareYaya recently created an AI software that takes a paint-looking palette where people can draw their needs if they can’t verbalize them.

“Even whenever she has trouble getting certain words out we can type it and then she can draw it. And then during the fall we would draw like flowers and summer and just be able to do so much with the iPad that we wouldn't have been able to do without it,” Stone said.

It’s another way to help sharpen their mind and give them a creative outlet.

“Calm them down and give them peace of mind and just make the day go by faster. And we'll sit in here for hours just drawing,” Stone said.

CareYaya has around 4,000 caregivers across the country. In North Carolina many of them are from N.C. State and UNC.