A select number of Fortified Life continuing care retirement / life plan community residents in Iowa will have a special new live-in caregiver. It’s called Addison Care, and it will be able to give them wellness surveys and provide customized reminders.
And nobody will need to dig deeper to provide Addison with room and board. That’s because Addison lives on their tablet computers.
The virtual caregiver will soon be available to several dozen residents within the Fortified Life CCRC, thanks to a new partnership between Addison’s creators, Electronic Caregiver, and Cedar Falls-based Western Home Communities.
“We are constantly thinking about active aging and what that looks like,” Fortified Life Director Amanda Lynch said in a statement. “We really are always on the cutting edge — clearly, with Addison and our partnership. We feel that by having a virtual presence with folks, they are going to feel better longer and be able to age in place, which really is our main goal.”
Addison Care was introduced earlier this year as a customizable, 3D-option for home care clients whose assistance could help address staff shortages within the industry. Addison was designed to interact with people “like an old friend,” McKnight’s Home Care reported.
Some colorful functions of Addison Care include the ability to recognize and honor older adults’ birthdays and holidays, and in turn, the person can interact with objects within Addison Care’s virtual space.
Although initially Addison Care will be used by 25 Fortified Life residents, the goal is soon to expand the user base to anyone within WHC who is a good fit — both older adults in their homes and the hundreds of residents within their communities — the company said.
Using a virtual avatar may be relatively novel, but broader options for virtual care have grown post-pandemic. More and more options, from telehealth to AI monitoring tools, are allowing older adults to age in place or at home.
