I come up with things almost everyday of how to help my grandma be more accomplished and fulfilled in life. I've talked with several other caregivers on the subject who also have thought of ideas but have no way to implement them in their day or no way to share them with the world to help others as well. Has anyone on here successfully started up an idea or invention to assist us caregivers or the person we care for? How would I go about it?
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If you did invent something, prudence would dictate that you get a patent to protect your design. Unless you're skilled in Intellectual Property law (and I'm definitely not), it's a very unique, complicated field of law. And it's not cheap.
However, if you have ideas that can be implemented by other caregivers, you might want to share them through groups. Even if personal interaction is limited now, it would take time to identify a sponsor for holding any meetings as well as locating additional people to present and share them.
You can also post specific suggestions here and get feedback from people with a wealth of experience. That can help you determine which ideas might be appropriate for sharing, or not.
I've found that larger hospital systems, and sometimes Catholic hospital systems, are more likely to offer classes, especially in larger cities There's also a teaching hospital and a good variety of medical services.
Videos are made of these kinds of assistive devices, or tactics. If it weren't for the pandemic, I would contact local rehabs, independent and assisted living, and perhaps memory care facilities and try to find one that would provide a venue for limited classes. Activity centers in those kinds of facilities might help.
Are your ideas crafty, or thought oriented...could you describe them a little bit more?
Another option is to use the search function and find other similar posts here. While not necessarily ideas, others have wanted to market "gadgets", including tech devices which they felt older people could/should use.
These are some hits, but change the search parameters and you'll probably get a different set of suggestions.
https://www.agingcare.com/search?term=marketing+gadgets%2C+caregiving+ideas
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Then you need to know if what you created is unique, patentable, protectable. If you don't have this you'll get knock-off products undercutting yours and then you won't have anything.
Next, you need to make sure you have enough funding to produce it and bring it to market. 85% of new businesses fail in the first 5 years because they underestimated how long it will take to turn a profit. It's rarely a smooth process, no matter how "brilliant" or "unique" your product or service is. This usually means finding investors (or angel investors).
FYI you are not the first (or second or third or fourth) person to come to this forum with this desire. That's why it's important to really know for certain that what you have to offer is really needed, can be adapted easily by aging minds and can be priced so that the elderly can afford it. I wish you success!