INTEGRATING VOICE-ACTIVATED TECHNOLOGY IN SENIOR LIVING
er voice devices to all residents at once, in which case the sheer volume of the task may become an issue; but doing it piecemeal has its own challenges. “Right now, we are adding the devices as folks move in, which is always harder than doing every room at once. A resident move-in is challenging enough, and here is one more thing we need to install in their apartment,” Vittitow said. At Benchmark, where executives are still
experimenting with voice options, Elalamy isn’t entirely convinced that the core tech- nology is ready for prime time. “These technologies have been created
for a mass market aged 19 to 45 years old. In your house, Google Home can recognize your voice, but can we train it to recognize all 150 voices of all our residents who are 85 or 95 years old? We can’t do that today. It doesn’t have an enterprise application to it yet,” he said. He worries about the scalability of a de-
vice that was designed for home use. When Benchmark deployed an Alexa-driven de- vice in a small common space, “we discov- ered that if two people were on the same network, then when one of them asked it to play music, it played it in both rooms. So now we need it on two different networks, but how do you mange that with multiple residents? It doesn’t scale,” he said. “In your own home it makes perfect sense, but when you do it in a shared setting it doesn’t take everything into account.” Even if the technological kinks can be
worked out (and they likely will be, given the rapid expansion of the voice market) there are other concerns specific to senior living that will have to be addressed. “Look at medication reminders. We can
set up reminders for folks, but the question always comes back to our liability around that,” Vittitow said. Suppose the device miss- es a reminder, or the programming is done wrong. Would there be legal repercussions? “I think if folks can set their own reminders, we wouldn’t be responsible for any error. But still, it’s something we have to think about.” Some take this concern a step further:
What if the technological snafu involved more than just a missed pill? “We need to understand the legal ram-
ifications. If you say ‘help’ and you have fallen, and Google doesn’t pick up on it, am
I liable? Is Google liable? Is anybody liable? You can’t just jump in without understand- ing all this stuff,” Elalamy said. Others wonder whether a voice-enabled
lifestyle might muddy the waters when it comes to definitions around senior housing. Suppose a resident appears “independent” in the usual sense, but is in fact relying heav- ily on Alexa to navigate through daily life. Could this in fact be someone who would be better served in assisted living? And when do the lines begin to blur? Finally, some would contend that there’s a wider context to be considered here. A voice-activated assistant can potentially do a lot to enhance resident life and stream- line operations, but such a device would be just one more piece of technology in a com- munity that is already increasingly overlaid with multiple technological systems. At The Arbor Company, Christian warns that any new appendage to the already weighty tech- nology infrastructure should be considered carefully. “From the clinical and care standpoint
it has to make sense in relation to all the other pieces of technology we are using,” she said. “I have to take a broad view of our care operation, which means we need to have specific conversations to make sure we aren’t just adding some new technology that our staff has to manage. I want to know: Does this make sense alongside everything else we are already doing?” There is a lot to think about, from technical needs to operational concerns. There’s a cost
A resident at Arbor Company community gets to know Alexa.
factor too: While voice-activated assistants for the home have become relatively inexpensive, a community-wide deployment with relevant software and services still will represent a sig- nificant investment. While it would be difficult if not impossible to put a hard return-on-in- vestment figure on a voice deployment, some say the effort would be justified if voice could deliver the kind of benefits that its most ardent advocates envision. “If we are supporting our residents to
stay as independent as possible, if we can keep them healthier longer, and we can help them to be more engaged with the community, then they will live better lives,” Catalanotto said. “Even if there is a cost involved, it is kind of a no-brainer for us.”
THE BASICS: DIGITAL VOICE ASSISTANTS
What it is: Digital voice assistants use a two-way speaker to hear and respond to basic queries and requests. Popular examples include Amazon’s Alexa and Siri on Apple devices, as well as Cortana on Microsoft devices and Google Assistant for Android.
How it works: Artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, including machine learning, natural language processing, and speech recognition, all are used to interpret the spoken word. Sophisticated algorithms can help the device to learn over time and become better at predicting users’ needs.
Why it matters: Senior living communities can use voice assistants to help residents access menus and schedules. These devices can offer medication reminders, call family members on command, alert staff when help is needed, and engage residents in voice-driven activities such as trivia games and other social programming.
38 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
