New Tech for Senior Living Communities Demonstrates Improved Service, Care and Engagement for Residents
November 8, 2019
FALLBROOK, CA–Regency Pacific Senior Community in Fallbrook and voice tech startup Speak2 Software today announced a new partnership that will implement voice technology in the senior living community enriching the service and care for all residents. Speak2 Software pairs with new in-unit smart speaker devices to allow seniors to make voice commands, enabling better access to loved ones, more efficient and improved care, and greater community engagement.
Speak2 is an enhancement of the current pull cord system that is standard in most senior communities. The current system treats every signal equally, often leading to overuse of facility nurses for non-medical calls. Speak2’s integrated voice technology allows seniors to state specific issues or requests and routes commands to the intended teams or people, such as management, maintenance, nursing, etc. This not only enables more efficient management of resources, but it enables predictive analytics to drive better planning and staff behaviors. Speak2 can also integrate with a senior’s address book, allowing them to connect with friends or family through voice command calls or speak to text functions, without the difficulty of locating or using a phone.
“Since our pilot project with Speak2 Software, we’ve seen our costs go down, and our resident engagement go up,” said Morgan Cadmus, Executive Director, Regency Fallbrook. “This is a major upgrade from the one-button system that signaled our highly trained nursing staff for any variety of issues – from housekeeping needs to a major medical event. Now we can separate the medical needs from the simpler requests, and can better manage our resources.”
The Fallbrook community has 60 units and 75 residents. The partnership was piloted in Summer 2019 and showed an increase in engagement and revenue. Regency Pacific is already piloting a second Speak2 engagement at its largest community in Kennewick, WA, and has plans to roll out Speak2 nationally. The Speak2 solution includes all hardware, software and training for partner communities.
“Speak2 leverages the simplicity of smart speakers to empower senior residents to ask for help, connect with loved ones, and signal emergency services by simply saying so out loud,” said Matt Smith, CEO of Speak2 Software. “Senior living should be about comfort and joy – and Speak2 helps innovative senior communities achieve that while better managing staffing resources and costs.”
Additional benefits to the Speak2 system include connections to unit thermostats, lights, and electronics, eliminating the need for remotes and minimizing the risk of injury due to a fall. Seniors can also use voice commands to access entertainment through audio books or TV control and can set reminders for medications or appointments. The system can also be used to monitor movements in and out of certain areas to help track medical issues, like mobility, nutrition or lavatory visits.
Speak2 was founded in New Jersey and was recently accepted as 1 of 7 startups to NVP Labs, an early stage accelerator run by Newark Venture Partners. Newark Venture Partners was founded by Don Katz, Audible founder and CEO, and its corporate partners include Audible (an Amazon Company), Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Prudential Financial, RWJBarnabas, and more.
Speak2 provides a full-service senior-care focused solution in the assisted living, nursing care and home care space that leverages voice command, smart technology and cloud. By enabling seniors to make requests to their caregivers via voice and introducing the many features of voice/smart speaker technology, it enriches the well-being of the aging population by improving care, lowering costs, and helping to prevent the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for people aged 65+, falls. For communities, Speak2 drives better behavior, more efficient management of staff resources and increases the engagement of seniors.