ERIKA WANG

Canada Post: Carriers that Care
Carriers that Care is an expansion on an idea proposed by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers as one way to pivot Canada Post out of letter and parcel delivery services. Through the door-to-door check-in service, we build connections and sense of community in seniors’ lives, while reassuring family that their loves ones are safe and doing well.

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Canadian seniors desire to age in their own homes, while their children live far away.


Children would move out and start families on their own, and while they would stay in contact, sometimes there are events that senior parents would not think to communicate as they did not think of them as significant. 
67% of Canadians reported believing that a lack of social connection negatively impacts their overall health and wellbeing.

- Telus Health (2020)40% of Canadians aged 55+ reported experiencing a lack of companionship and regular social connections with other people.

- National Institute on Aging (2020)

Countries like Japan and France have have established successful check-in programs.


In Canada, letter carriers are one of the most trusted professionals.

Postal services are in a unique position to leverage their door-to-door network, so they can meet the emerging needs of seniors living independently.

So why not Canada Post have a check-in service too?

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been advocating for a senior check-in service since 2016.

The 'Delivering Community Power' initiative, created by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), are a set of proposals inspired by a sense of need for Canada Post to innovate - one of which include a proposal for a senior check-in service, which their earliest version dates back to 2016.

With the rise of digital alternatives, revenue from letter delivery has been on the decline for the past 17 years, and in parcel delivery, Canada Post been losing market share to faster, cheaper competitors such as FedEx or UPS. Utilizing their reach to approximately 17 million addresses across the country (Canada Post, 2021), Carriers that Care would introduce a new stream of revenue to the business.

How might we utilize the existing infrastructure of Canada Post to support socially isolated seniors?


Carriers that Care is a service that comes in 3 steps. Each point involves different stakeholders and various touchpoints.
RachelLives in Nova Scotia.
Was recently widowed.SelenaLives in Calgary with her own family. Is considering the service for her mother. CindyCarrier for 17+ years. Recently trained for Carriers that Care.
WALK- THROUGH

Introducing: Carriers that Care, a check-in service designed to keep families connected with their elderly loved ones.

1. SIGN-UPS

Canadians can sign up for the service for themselves, or for their loved ones.



Our user, Selena, would navigate through the landing page to get information about the Carriers that Care. After ensuring that she has gotten consent from Rachel that she will be participating in this service, she can enter basic information about Rachel such as visitation schedules and family member contacts.
2. VISITATIONS

After sign-ups, a postie will start coming by for a visit - to have a friendly conversation, and to make sure everything’s going well.

Resources for unexpected scenarios
Resources for emergency contacts
Questionnaire to standardize reports
List of service recipients & their contact information
POSTAL WORKER APP

In order to alleviate the service being reliant on a postal worker’s individual ability to be able to report on seniors, postal workers will be supported through an app on their mobile devices.

A mobile intervention would reduce cognitive overhead on posties that are conducting check-ins by giving structure to the reporting process. In turn, this would ensure trust in the service by allowing posties to be confident and transparent, reminding them that 'conversations' is the core of the service.
3. POST-VISIT REPORT

At the end of each visit, a postie will send a short report ensuring that Canadians can stay updated about the social and physical well-being of their loved ones.

EMAIL & TEXT UPDATES
DASHBOARD
A short-hand version of the report will be sent through text and email. Selena can check the full report through the Carriers that Care dashboard, where she can also take extra actions, such as adjusting visitation schedules or editing family contact information.