Navigating care is awful.
The Vigilant Advocate is here to help.
You are not alone.
A platform to help caregivers navigate care. Human led. AI powered. Built for you.
“There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Roslyn Carter
the problem »
A CAREGIVING CRISIS
THE PROBLEM »
There is a caregiving crisis in the United States. Caregivers are overwhelmed, under-equipped, and feel alone in the process of navigating care. This is a problem that we all know, or one we know we will face soon.
THE IMPACT »
The economic impact is significant. Caregivers forego $50b in earnings annually. The lack of health literacy results in $25b in extra costs. The social emotional impact is equally devastating. 82% of caregivers feel overwhelmed; 78% experience burnout; 82% experience mental health struggles; 20% experience their own health decline.
THE MARKET »
63 MILLION Americans are unpaid caregivers; that number increased by 20 million since 2015. 90% of Americans struggle with medical information. 75% of caregivers feel unprepared to navigate care. 75% of caregivers provide 40+ hours of care per week often on top of full time work.
the solution »
THE VIGILANT ADVOCATE
WHAT IT IS »
A platform to help caregivers navigate the complexities of care by providing resources, advocacy, and support with a human-first team of navigators supported by a vetted, reliable AI backbone providing a vast library of resources, tools, and supports.
the platform »
THE VIRA SUITE
human lead
PEER NETWORK humans who know
A network of peer support. Often the support we need is simply someone seeing you and saying “I know your pain.”
TRAINED NAVIGATORS humans to help you
Human-to-human navigation support from trained advocates.
AI powered
support for you to be heard
VIRA Voice helps caregivers build confidence advocating for care through practical playbooks, AI-powered practice, and access to live professional advocates when additional support is needed.
support to help you hear
VIRA Voice also provides an important resource to help you understand the language of care by providing plain language translations of medical term and explanations of processes.
a safe place, owned by you, to keep track of everything you have to keep track of
A secure place for you to keep track of everything: appointments, medications, notes from conversations, questions, medical records, images, and more.
a library of resources connecting you to what you need, when you need it, where you are
A library of resources to help you navigate care:
community-based, governmental, and other organizations providing support services
information to support navigating the logistics of care
All supported by humans helping you find what you need.
built for you
OUR FOCUS IS YOU »
TVA started by asking you, the caregivers, what would help you through this? Those answers inform everything we do. Research, data, interviews, and your stories are the foundation of our innovation.
WHY ITS UNIQUE »
TVA uniquely combines the background of its founder in law, social work, and lived experience to provide caregivers with the resources and support they need to better navigate care. It is a platform that will meet you where you are, help you take the next step, and give you support when, and where, you need it.
Do you have a story to tell?
Our mission is simple: to help you feel less alone as you navigate care. Our products are built to improve the system. Your story of navigating care will help us do that.
Our why
Kristen Best founded the Vigilant Advocate after her middle son missed a full year of school sick without a diagnosis. He was hospitalized many times, saw countless specialists, spent all of his time going from one appointment to the next, yet no one could figure what was wrong. The Bests had more resources than most: they had health insurance, Kristen and her husband are lawyers, they live in a place with lots of healthcare, Kristen was able to not work so she had time to dedicate to caretaking. Despite all of that, navigating care was nearly impossible. The Bests did not understand the system, the language. Kristen found that few providers listened to her or to her son. It was difficult to keep track of everything, to know what tests had been run, what drugs had been prescribed, why, and what, did any of it mean. And, perhaps worst of all, they felt very alone and lost in the process.
With persistence and lucky, their story ended magically: they found an answer and they got their son back.
Kristen vowed to do something about her experience. So she built the Vigilant Advocate, with a mission focus on changing the system so that others will not feel so lost, be so confused, nor find themselves so frighteningly alone.
