FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

We like inquisitive people. Never stop asking questions!

For Employers

For Caregivers

Why was Cariloop founded?

Millions of people in the U.S. are providing largely unseen care to loved ones while also working full time jobs. The vast majority of these family caregivers are thrust into stressful situations with little experience or support, and they spend hours upon hours googling and researching to determine how to navigate their situation. They struggle to find quality time for their families, put off pursuing careers or growth opportunities, and often neglect consistent self-care.

Cariloop founders, Michael Walsh and Steven Theesfeld experienced these challenges first-hand earlier in life. That’s why they created Cariloop. Because no one should have to go through caregiving alone. Learn our story.

What need is Cariloop addressing for employers?

Today, with record low unemployment and high talent mobility, companies often struggle to maintain staff. At the same time, a largely unseen population within the workforce, is struggling to balance the demands of both caregiving and work. This costs employers talent, productivity and more. Cariloop provides an innovative and inclusive solution that helps you support and retain valuable employees and more including: 

 

  • Reducing a root cause of stress and burnout
  • Increasing retention and improving recruitment
  • Improving productivity and reducing missed workdays
  • Delivering on DEI initiatives

Explore the comprehensive benefits of Cariloop’s solution for employers.

How does Cariloop’s Caregiver Support Platform work?

Employees in need of support can get connected with one of our incredibly passionate, experienced Care Coaches by visiting their employer’s customized Cariloop landing page. Once employees fill out the short intake form, they are immediately paired with a Care Coach whose experience matches the employee’s caregiving needs.

 

Once employees have created a case, they can:

  • Invite other family members or stakeholders to participate in the case as a part of the “Care Team” (such as the family’s financial advisor, legal counselor, care manager, etc.).
  • Securely upload files or documents for easy accessibility whenever needed by the Care Team.
  • Collaborate with the Care Team and Cariloop Care Coach throughout the entire caregiving process.

Does Cariloop offer bi-lingual support?

Yes. Cariloop’s Care Coaching team is staffed with full-time bilingual Care Coaches. Employees can also toggle between English, Spanish and French as their preferred language at any point by navigating to the “Account” information section of their profile in the Care Portal.

How many loved ones can Cariloop assist a member with at a time?

As part of our offering for employers, we allow employees to create Cases for as many loved ones as they like. Simply put, there is no limit. We want to support employees with any caregiving need so they can stress less and be more present at work and at home. The employee can easily toggle between cases for their loved ones within the Care Portal and access the discussions and files associated with that case.

Can a Care Coach provide support to a family on an evening or weekend?

Yes. We understand caregivers and their families are often too busy during the day to stop and huddle up with their Care Coach. That’s why we’ve made it as easy as possible for our members and their Care Coaches to quickly exchange messages through our platform – no different than texting.

 

If the family needs to hop on a conference call or video chat with their Coach during the evening or weekend, our Coaches usually do their best to be able to accommodate if they have some advanced notice. Of course, we can’t always guarantee our Coaches’ availability after hours – they do also have families themselves! That said, we have amazing people that don’t ever want to see a family they’re working with go through this process alone, so we’ve seen many instances where they’re doing whatever they can to make themselves accessible.

How many family members can participate in a case?

As many as are needed to help coordinate care! We’ve seen our members include 8-10 other family caregivers at a time. Any time there is activity within a case, every individual who has been invited onto the Care Team will be notified and can actively collaborate with the other Care Team members and their Care Coach.

What are the qualifications of the Care Coaches?

Our Care Coaches are required to have an applicable license or certification in good standing in fields like healthcare or education. Those licenses or certifications can include [but are not limited to] LBSW, PTA, OTA, SLPA, LNFA, LVN/LPN, LMSW, LCSW, RN, OT, PT, ST, SLP, CCM, CALM, or RCAL.

Are Cariloop Care Coaches contractors or employees?

All of our Care Coaches are full-time, W2 employees of Cariloop. In designing our member experience, we learned early on that if we wanted to provide a high-quality, consistent level of interaction and maintain the quick response times we aim for, our Care Coaches need to be part of the team!

What is the average response time from a Care Coach?

Our Care Coaches have been trained to respond to our members within 2 hours of reaching out through our platform. However, in many instances and as long as they’re able, the Coaches are able to respond in half or even a quarter of that time.

What are some of the most common situations a Coach can assist with?

About a quarter of our members first come to us because they need help finding providers, such as clinical specialists, therapists, childcare, daycare options, skilled facilities, home health agencies, assisted living communities, in-home caregivers, or hospice agencies. As you can imagine, many of our members engage with us because they’re feeling overwhelmed as they attempt to navigate each stop along the care continuum.

Another quarter of our members first come to us because they’re trying to decipher a loved one’s financial and legal options as well as insurance policies to understand where it fits in the puzzle and what types of care will or will not be covered. These questions tend to center around Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care insurance, VA benefits, any supplemental policy, as well as assistance with finance and legal matters.

 The other half of our members are typically trying to navigate the everyday needs that caregivers face, such as family dynamic issues, the mental and emotional health of themselves and their loved one, medication management, transportation resources, support group availability, meal prep and delivery, or durable medical equipment purchases/returns.

Does Cariloop collect any revenue from care or service providers that a Coach might refer to?

No. We do not accept referral, lead generation, or subscription fees of any kind from any healthcare provider. We’ve made this a cornerstone of Cariloop’s core values in maintaining the highest level of objectivity and integrity in guiding our members through one of the most stressful processes they’ve ever been through.

Can an employee take their Cariloop membership with them if they leave?

Absolutely! When an employee leaves an organization where Cariloop is part of their benefits or wellness program, a 30-day countdown is triggered within our platform that allows the member to shift to an individual membership that they can cover the cost of on their own.

What types of pricing models does Cariloop offer?

While the vast majority of our work is done on a per employee per month basis, we also offer our services in blocks of cases.

Is there a minimum size group Cariloop can work with?

Typically our minimum size group is 100 employees, but we can configure our program to accommodate groups as small as 50 or 75 as well.

Can Cariloop integrate with our Health/Wellness platform, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), or Ben Admin solution?

Yes. Prior to implementation, our Customer Success team will work with your IT, HRIS, and/or Benefits Administration teams to quickly set up any eligibility file transfers and integrations within your organization’s infrastructure.

 

We realize this is typically a barrier that can cause significant delays in rolling out a new program. We’ve taken careful consideration in designing these integration experiences for our customers so they feel as little pain and frustration with this process as possible.

Can Cariloop work in tandem with our family leave program to support our employees?

Yes. As part of the implementation process, we meet with the HR and Health/Wellness leaders within an organization to identify the various other benefit and leave programs that are available.

 

We do this for two reasons – 1. So our Care Coaches are aware of other services available to the member and can direct them as needed and 2. So our team can work with HR to create process workflows around FMLA administration and have Cariloop be activated when employees are approved for leave.

 

We believe offering leave to an employee who is caring for a family member is an amazing thing, but what we don’t want is for that employee to spend their precious time on leave spinning their wheels figuring out how to do it all. That’s where Cariloop can be a real asset to that employee and his or her family both during AND after his or her absence.

Will Cariloop work with Brokers and Consultants?

Yes, we work alongside our customers’ and prospects’ consulting partners on a daily basis. If you are a Broker or Consultant and are looking for some more information on our program, please explore our partner’s page.

How do I start a case with a Care Coach?

If you’re looking for support coordinating care and need help knowing where to begin, visit our Individuals page.

Once I create a Case, how do I access it?

You can log back into our Care Portal to view your Case any time by visiting cariloop.com and clicking the “Login” button at the top right corner of the home page. We also encourage you to download our mobile app, available in Google Play and the iOS App Store, once you have created a Case through the methods listed above for easy access.

How do I invite my family members to join the case?

Go to your Care Team and click on the “Invite” button. You’ll then be prompted to fill in the person’s name and email address. Once you hit send, an email will be sent to your family member asking them to join the Case.

How do I upload important documents to my Case?

You can upload files and documents securely to your Case by navigating to the Documents tab. If you’re accessing the Care Portal through your internet browser, click the “Upload Document” button. On our mobile app, click the plus icon. You’ll want to be sure to follow instructions on the screen to include a subject and supporting text to categorize each document you upload.

Will my Care Coach continue working with me, even after my loved one’s immediate challenge is resolved?

Yes. Our Care Coaches are committed to walking with you through your entire caregiving journey. So long as you are a Cariloop member, your dedicated Care Coach will be there for you any time you have a challenge or a question.

What kind of experience does my Care Coach have? How can I be certain they are qualified to help me with my loved one’s care?

All our Care Coaches are licensed or certified care professionals with a minimum of 5 years of experience in fields including nursing, social work, pediatrics, education, insurance and more. Currently, our Care Coaches have an average of 12 years of experience in their respective fields. When you begin your journey with Cariloop, we pair you with a Coach whose expertise best matches your specific caregiving situation.

How long does it take to construct a plan for my loved one once I start working with my Coach?

Every caregiver’s story requires its own unique amount of time and dedication to resolve the challenge at hand. Any time you post in your Case, our Coaches are trained to be responsive within two hours, although many times they are even faster than that. We are committed to equipping and supporting you in your caregiving journey as quickly and efficiently as possible.

How does Cariloop know which resources will best fit my loved one’s needs if they live out of state?

Your Care Coach will do whatever research is necessary to find resources that are most appropriate for your loved one’s situation. The questions that our Coaches ask during the search and vetting process are applicable no matter what state you live in.

Will Cariloop speak directly to facilities to help me plan for my loved one’s care?

Yes. Our Care Coaches will contact facilities during the search process to ensure that a facility will be a good option for your loved one.

Can I speak with a Care Coach on the phone or am I limited to posting in my case file?

Our Care Coaches will have the quickest response time when you post in your Case. However, our Coaches are also available via phone call or video chat when necessary and their contact information is readily available in the Care Portal.

Do I need to be the primary point of communication with the Care Coach or can my sibling also ask them questions?

Anyone who you have granted access to your Case can post discussions and upload documents. Therefore, your siblings can communicate directly with your Care Coach via the portal at any time—no need for you to spend extra time being the mediator.

Do I need a HIPAA agreement to work with Cariloop?

No. If your Care Coach ever needs to discuss your situation with a healthcare provider, your Coach will ask you to sign and store a HIPAA form on the Cariloop portal.

Can Cariloop help transfer medical documents to other providers?

No. Our portal is best suited for organizing and storing important documents rather than transferring them. However, our mobile app does allow you to easily access and share these documents with providers when necessary.

Can I invite my doctor or attorney to join my Case? If so, how is this accomplished?

Yes. As the owner of your Case, you have complete control over who has access to your Case. Your doctor or attorney is more than welcome to join your Case if you invite them to do so. Anyone you invite will be required to create a Cariloop username and password upon joining your Case.

If I’m taking care of a parent, can they also use the Care Portal? What are the restrictions, if any, to adding new people to the Case?

Absolutely! All family members, including the loved one you are caring for, are more than welcome to use the portal if you decide to invite them into the Case. Adding and removing people from the Case is left up to the owner of the Case.

My wife’s sister recently received a cancer diagnosis. Can my Cariloop membership help support my sister-in-law?

Yes. Your Cariloop membership brings support to whoever you consider family. If you’re facing the challenges of caring for someone who you consider family, we want to support you!

Can Cariloop help me figure out what to do for my loved one who has memory loss challenges?

Yes. Memory care is one of the many challenges that our Care Coaches have helped family caregivers just like you face with their loved ones.

I’m starting to think my loved one is no longer safe living at home. Can Cariloop offer advice?

Yes. We understand how difficult conversations like this one can be, and our Care Coaches will be there to support you with everything from conversation starters to expectation management. We’ll also help you explore your loved one’s options for what’s next—whether this means searching for a professional caregiver or considering facility options.

What if my parent is already living at a nursing home, but it’s getting too expensive. Can my Care Coach find a new place that meets our budget?

Yes. Our Care Coaches are committed to finding options that best match your loved one’s care situation. Our core value of integrity requires our Coaches to provide the most objective and transparent recommendations possible.

Is Cariloop only for those caring for aging loved ones?

No! Our team of Care Coaches is staffed with experienced care professionals to support with the care of a loved one of any age. We have pediatric and education Coaches who support parents and families with any challenges that come up as you care for a child.

What should I do if I forget my login information?

Simply click the “Forgot password?” button on the login home page (https://plan.cariloop.com) and enter your email. Instructions for resetting your login information will be sent to the email that you entered.

I’m not very tech savvy. Is your portal hard to use?

Not at all! Our online portal is specifically designed with you in mind. When you sign in to our site, you will only find the elements necessary to effectively communicate with your family and your Care Coach.

Is there a Cariloop mobile app?

Yes. You can download it in Google Play and the iOS App Store. The mobile app is best intended for current Cariloop members. If you do not yet have a case created, please visit our  Individuals page to learn how.

Don’t see your question listed here? Please contact us.