After his 97-year-old grandmother was hospitalized from accidentally taking too much of her prescribed medication, Wilmington resident AJ Trelease came up with an idea for an automatic medication dispenser. The product is named Graciela, after Trelease’s grandmother.
Trelease built his startup, CareHome Health Solutions, to work on this risk-preventive smart device for seniors. The device automatically dispenses pills and water at specific intervals throughout the day, as dictated by a given patient’s needs.
“It can prolong and save lives,” Trelease said.
“Graciela” is designed to combat medication error, which can happen if patients take the wrong medication or the wrong dosage—or if they miss a dosage entirely. Every year, up to 9,000 Americans die as a result of medication error, and patients 65 years or above are almost twice as likely as their younger counterparts to be hospitalized for such errors.
CareHome’s target customers consist partially of informal at-home caregivers who find themselves responsible for managing medications—often a trickier and more intricate task than it may seem.
“We’re helping the senior retain their independence, but we’re also helping caregivers with their work-life balance. And by doing both of those things, you’re kind of attacking the problem of medication error from two different angles,” Trelease said.
Additionally, the startup is targeting administrators of senior care facilities. These facilities can at times suffer from understaffing, which in turn leads to poor quality of care. For example, if a small number of employees must take responsibility for providing medication to a disproportionately large number of patients, there is more room for human error in medication distribution.
How CareHome helps
As for how specifically CareHome addresses the issues at hand, Trelease described Graciela as a “Keurig for pills.” Caregivers unlock the device and can store up to a week’s worth of medication in the “pill wheel,” which is motorized by a battery. Using the CareHome app, the caregivers will then be able to set up the precise times when each medication will be dispensed.
At those designated times, the appropriate pills are deposited into a cup that is secured with a magnetic base. Within a few minutes of the pills being dispensed, if the patient does not pick up the cup, a notification is sent to the caregiver through the app.
After taking the pills, the patient can replace the cup, and the machine will automatically dispense water.
Trelease said his goal is to give time back to caregivers while promoting independence for seniors. With the automatic features, patients with limited mobility, eyesight or memory can safely maintain control over their own medication intake.
Trelease first formulated the concept in an entrepreneurship class at the University of Connecticut. But he has since moved to Wilmington—where there are more people over the age of 65—to pursue the startup professionally.
CareHome now has a working prototype, and Trelease said he hopes to release the product to the market in 2026. The current model will be a one-time purchase for the device with an optional subscription to access additional software capabilities, such as health metrics.
QUICK BITS
Startup: CareHome Health Solutions
Founder: AJ Trelease
Founded: 2023
Team size: 1
Location: Wilmington, NC
Website: www.carehomehealthsolutions.com
Funding: Bootstrapped; pre-seed; non-dilutive grants
So far, CareHome is bootstrapped and has received various grants from winning pitch competitions, but Trelease said he is now seeking investors. Graciela is patent pending (having received a provisional patent).
Trelease said he can tell his grandmother loves his product.
“She loves the idea, and hearing that I named it after—you know, I can see she loves it.”
