Food services management company Sodexo has begun offering a “smart living” program to senior living residents, in partnership with Connected Living and Amazon.
Residents who are using the program can ask Amazon’s Alexa for community information, which includes Sodexo menus and Connected Living content.
Questions can include things like, “Alexa, what’s for lunch on Friday in the cafe?”
Sodexo and Connected Living have been in a relationship for about 18 months, and sought to integrate some of the platforms, said CEO of Seniors, Sodexo North America, Joe Cuticelli.
“Everyone should know that this kind of tech is the new norm,” he told McKnight’s. “It’s fairly seamless because of the infrastructure. It’s applicable at every level of care.”
Connected Living has a suite of technology functions, while Sodexo has long-standing relationships and services for many senior living communities. The personal assistant aspect also reflects an increased demand from consumers: By 2018, a survey estimated that one in six US adults, around 39 million people, have a voice-activated smart speaker.
Asbury Group Integrated Technologies has partnered with the companies to pilot the Smart Living program at Asbury Communities, a system of not-for-profit continuing care retirement communities based in Maryland. Residents will be able to have more engagement through the program, said Nick Patel, the president of Asbury Group Integrated Technologies, a full-service IT firm managing the pilot.
“We did extensive due diligence and were excited to hit the ground floor with this voice integrated technology and social media platform,” he told McKnight’s. “We looked at the market segment. We knew Asbury Methodist were very tech savvy. What we found is the vast majority of residents had smartphones: They were a fully connected group.”
Patel describes the program as “bold step forward” and that residents and family members want to connect with the platform. Amazon is “leading the charge to educate voice providers to really create integrated technology,” he said. The system’s pilot should be live this week, with a larger roll-out coming soon, he said.
