Eagan-based Monarch Healthcare Management says it’s the first in Minnesota to deploy an AI-enabled digital engagement tool to combat loneliness for its senior residents.
The Telly platform, from Chicago-based ConnectCareHero, utilizes an AI-enabled digital infrastructure to keep residents engaged with a Netflix-like experience of curated content, live-streamed programs and communication networks.
Monarch, which manages 43 nursing facilities and 15 assisted living facilities across the state, hopes that Telly will improve engagement and health outcomes among its residents.
ConnectCareHero was founded in 2015 by Osvaldo Montelongo. After his Spanish-speaking, elderly father developed advanced dementia, Montelongo had to move him into a senior living community in Chicago. From that experience, he decided he needed to create a platform that could combat social isolation using culturally engaging programming. The company has grown over the years to become a Techstars portfolio company and among Forbes’ Next 1000 in 2021.
Besides providing an AI-user-friendly interface and AI-analytics to curate content, Telly has a handful of elements that they say will benefit seniors. It allows relatives and care providers to monitor users’ digital activities, as well as help with short-staffed facilities through what the company describes as “smart screenings and observations” to identify those at-risk. The platform also hosts weekly social events and classes so that users can connect with people outside of their local residence.
A previous version incorrectly stated the number of facilities Monarch operates.
