Atria Taps Alexa to Empower Senior Residents

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Jan 21, 2022, 12:58 ET

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jan. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atria Senior Living has begun equipping its communities with Amazon Echo Shows, providing residents with a new level of convenience and control.

Atria Taps Alexa to Empower Senior Residents

Coterie^TM, a joint venture with Related Companies and Atria, will see the first installation of Amazon Echo Shows at its new Cathedral Hill luxury senior living community in San Francisco. Cathedral Hill will debut the new smart devices to be ready for its first residents this spring with the help of Aiva Health, the leading virtual assistance platform for healthcare and senior living. The Amazon Echo Show devices will then be installed at selected Atria and Coterie communities during 2022 and beyond.

"The fact that Amazon is enabling 'fleet management' of the Echo Show is a game-changer in senior living,"said Atria CTO Chris Nall. "We're thrilled to have this tool that empowers residents without complicated equipment or confusing interfaces. For most folks, it doesn't get any simpler than just asking Alexa for what you want and having it happen."

At launch, Cathedral Hill residents will be able to use the Echo Shows to ask Alexa to help with all sorts of things just using their voice:

Adjust lights, blinds and thermostats.
Make phone and video calls to friends and family.
Find out what's on the dining menu and event calendar.
Make calls to community staff and neighbors.

For their part, Cathedral Hill staff can also send messages into resident rooms -- as voice messages that Alexa reads aloud or as visual cards that appear on the screen of the Echo Show devices. These can be reminders about community events or important bulletins.

"Voice assistants are used by more than 60 million Americans, seniors included," added Nall. "We're enhancing Amazon's Alexa with special skills that radically improve the resident experience."

Atria is also using voice to layer on more safety measures. For example, Aiva is a supplement to an emergency call system including wearables and safety push buttons. If a resident falls too far from those devices, they can use Alexa to call the staff for help. And in the event of storms or earthquakes, staff will be able to broadcast messages and (in the future) turn on lights throughout the community.

"Virtual assistants create such an immediate connection between people," said Sumeet Bhatia, Aiva's Founder and CEO. "It really helps residents increase social interaction inside their community and with their friends and family outside."

The Echo Show devices also include most standard Alexa features, including access to information like the weather or sports scores, and entertainment like music and news, games, podcasts, relaxing sounds and more. Alexa's conversational qualities can provide companionship, with some senior residents referring to her as a "friend" or "roommate."

About Atria Senior Living:
Atria Senior Living is a leading operator of independent living, assisted living, supportive living and memory care communities in more than 400 locations in 45 states and seven Canadian provinces. With the addition of Holiday Retirement to its portfolio in 2021, Atria is now the residence of choice for more than 43,000 older adults, and the workplace of choice for more than 17,000 employees. Atria creates vibrant communities where older adults can thrive and participate, know that their contributions are valued, and enjoy access to opportunities and support that help them keep making a positive difference in our world. Atria operates seven distinct senior living brands: Coterie a luxury brand in a joint venture with Related Companies, Atria Signature, Atria Senior Living, Atria Park, Holiday Retirement, Atria Retirement and Gladwell. Atria's subsidiary, Glennis Solutions, is the only fully integrated cloud-based software suite specifically designed to serve the senior housing industry.

For more information about Atria, visit AtriaSeniorLiving.com or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For career opportunities and more information about working for Atria, visit AtriaCareers.com. For more information on Glennis Solutions, visit GlennisSolutions.com. For more information about Holiday Retirement, visit HolidaySeniorLiving.com.

About Aiva:
Aiva is the voice operating system for better care. Our secure enterprise platform uses voice assistants like Amazon Alexa to empower patients and seniors throughout their care journey. They enjoy more entertainment options, better control of their environment and instant two-way communication with their care team. Aiva voice-enables existing systems in areas such as dining menus, event calendars, health records, maintenance orders, clinical communications, patient engagement, electronic health records and building management. The company is based in Los Angeles. Investors include the Alexa Fund, Google Assistant Investment Program, Act One Ventures, Mucker Capital, Techstars and the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator. For more information, visit www.aivahealth.com.

SOURCE Atria Senior Living