Hundreds of assisted living communities and family care homes across the state to receive free Amazon Echo Show 8
RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 6, 2021 — North Carolina Assisted Living Association (NCALA), a North Carolina non-profit trade association supporting quality assisted living, and K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced a partnership to provide technology relief to communities across the state. In September 2020, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed House Bill 1105/SL 2020-97 granting North Carolina organizations in need access to funds of the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund. NCALA was awarded grant funds to help statewide assisted living communities curb resident social isolation, and facilitate safe visitation and communication between residents and family members through technology. In partnership with K4Connect, the organization is bringing the power of voice and visual technology experiences to every assisted living and family care home community in North Carolina. By January 31, 2021, more than 1,400 Amazon Echo Show devices will be delivered to participating senior living communities.
Senior living has been hit hard by the coronavirus impacting millions of vulnerable older adults living at home and in care communities across the nation. This year, technology emerged as a valuable resource for older adult residents to maintain connections to family and community staff, while staying informed during quarantine. This statewide grant initiative recognizes the need for technology-based resources that can help senior living communities overcome challenges brought on by this type of crisis. The grant objective is to provide senior living residents and community staff with technology that assists in three key areas: mental wellbeing, social isolation and virtual visitation.
“NCALA is honored to have received this grant and confident it will bring value to our assisted living communities throughout the state. Partnering with K4Connect allows us to seamlessly scale the delivery and deployment of over 1,400 Amazon Echo Show devices to communities in need. It is incredibly exciting to bring these resources to assisted living communities that continue to work so hard to provide the best care possible for the thousands of older adults in North Carolina,” said NCALA President & CEO, Frances Messer.
K4Connect is a leading provider of enterprise technologies designed for senior living community residents and staff teams. In recent years, the company has worked closely with Amazon to bring valuable voice experiences to older adults throughout the nation with Amazon Alexa devices. With the Echo Show, residents can easily video chat with family and friends, stay engaged through a myriad of voice and touch-accessible entertainment options, and have a whole new way of engaging with technologies that provide real utility to daily life.
“We’re incredibly thankful for our continued relationship with Amazon that allowed us to move quickly on this initiative,” said K4Connect Chief Growth Officer, Keith Stewart. “Our enterprise management capabilities enable us to safely deliver, deploy and support these devices at scale, getting them into the hands of communities quickly with absolute minimal impact on staff to manage set-up and onboarding. We’re excited to work with NCALA on this program to provide much-needed relief as communities continue to manage through the impacts of COVID-19.”
With each community receiving a device(s), the Echo Shows are a useful common area tool that can be accessed by residents and staff at any time. Spring Arbor Senior Living will be receiving devices across its North Carolina communities, as Senior Vice President of Senior Living, Rich Williams, said, “This past year we were thrilled to launch voice capabilities with the Amazon Echo Dots at a number of our communities. Having an Echo Show in the wellness areas and cafes in all of our North Carolina communities is an incredibly valuable tool.”
Do you represent an assisted living community or family care home located in North Carolina? Reach out to our team at NCALA@K4Connect.com to learn more and confirm eligibility by January 15, 2021. To learn more about NCALA programs and training, visit www.ncala.org. To learn more about K4Connect and its technologies, visit www.K4Connect.com.
About NCALA
NCALA is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of seniors in North Carolina through more than 250 Provider Members (assisted living community operators) and over 75 business Partner Members serving more than 15,000 assisted living residents in Adult Care Homes and Family Care Homes across the state. The core of NCALA’s mission is to support quality assisted living by working to create a business environment that respects the needs of both assisted living providers and the consumers who utilize their services. NCALA focuses on four primary areas: political advocacy, regulatory support, communication of issues, and education and training.
As the official North Carolina state partner of Argentum, NCALA is one of the largest providers of state-approved Assisted Living Administrator Certification training. Learn more at www.ncala.org.
About K4Connect
K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Its premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness and Engagement for residents and Productivity, Building and Insight for staff and operators.
Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect currently serves tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.K4Connect.com.