The use of artificial intelligence in home care is not a new concept. Increasingly, companies are applying the technology to help quell staff shortages, streamline efficiency and expand home care access. With Addison Care, a new 3-D, customizable, animated caregiver, Electronic Caregiver’s mission is to make this technology more “human.”
“Addison Care is designed with models of empathy, courtesy, humor, cultural customization for familiarity and comfort,” Electronic Caregiver CEO Anthony Dohrmann told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse.
In addition to providing a digital companion, the software also offers medication reminders, vitals monitoring and 24/7 emergency response, among other features. This immersive experience was developed in large part thanks to the process of trial and error — and recognition that a voice-only technology like Alexa has limitations.
“Voice alone isn’t enough, seeing is believing,” Dohrmann said. “If we want people to adopt a new vision for their health and routine, we want them to feel it. We want to be able to stimulate oxytocin levels and serotonin levels and dopamine levels. We want them to feel this new routine and experience and feel and lean into that new vision.”
As examples, Addison will interact with you and your environment like an old friend. Dohrmann points out that many times relatives of patients develop connections with the software. Being the first Addison users, his young children enjoy interacting with it. He is also quick to clarify that Addison is not out there to replace flesh-and-blood caregivers but rather provide them another helping hand.
“This is not a job threat, Addison is job security,” Dohrmann explained. “When these are at-risk patients — anybody with chronic conditions — they are most at risk in your absence. We need to provide a safety net between visits so you have a patient to come back to. Because if they end up in a hospital or they end up escalating to a nursing home or hospice care, that’s not good for the business. And it’s not good for job security. And it’s certainly not good for your customer.”
As the number of aging people continues to increase and staffing shortages persist, Addison Care will be there to help fill in the gaps. But Dohrmann and Electronic Caregiver do not plan to stop there.
“We’re adding a lot of great new things like the grocery delivery experience of ordering your groceries on Addison,” Dohrmann said. “We get a lot of partnerships who want to use this interface to captivate users across corporate, automotive, retail, education [sectors] and health institutions in hospitals — managing patients bedside to help relieve some of the load of the staff. So you’re gonna see a lot of Addison in a lot of new places.”
Home Sweet Home is a feature appearing Mondays in McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. The story focuses on a heartwarming, entertaining or quirky happening affecting the world of home care. If you have a topic that might be worthy of the spotlight in Home Sweet Home, please email Special Projects Coordinator Foster Stubbs at [email protected].
