AI with Heart: How Meela is helping older adults stay connected
Older people without family nearby or those suffering from memory loss can often feel lonely, isolated and worse.
ThriveMore is hoping to alleviate this, using an unexpected source: artificial intelligence.
“Meela is an AI companion that provides regular, friendly phone calls to help reduce loneliness and support residents’ emotional wellbeing,” said Jessica McCollum, ThriveMore Chief Operating Officer. When residents opt in to using Meela, it calls twice weekly and engages them to share stories about their life to have progressive meaningful conversations.
“Meela also alerts us to possible care or housekeeping needs and shares positive feedback from conversations,” Jessica said. “This tool enhances — not replaces — the personal relationships within our communities.”
ThriveMore sees the potential for Meela to help keep residents connected and engaged. The Meela team came to Brookridge in July to launch the platform at that community. They shared about Meela, answered questions and helped kick off the use there.
“I think ThriveMore has an amazing personal touch to it and this is, Meela is kind of a great extension of that personal touch,” said Josh Sach, Meela founder who visited Brookridge in the summer. He explained that Meela is not trying to replace human connection, but that this is a good option for when it’s needed.
As of this fall, the average conversation length with Meela at Brookridge was about 10 minutes, Sach said, with about half of residents speaking with her having conversations more than 20 minutes long.
Brookridge residents Larry and Connie Turner met the Meela team this summer, and immediately signed up to take part. Larry was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s earlier this year, and they are both hoping that starting to use Meela now will help him both in the near and long-term.
Connie said that Meela can provide a place to talk about any special interest, but she’s especially seen its benefit when helping Larry talk about his childhood and his feelings.
“Larry has always confided to me that he has difficulty initiating conversations – AI takes care of that,” Connie said. Meela asked Larry about his childhood memories and favorite foods, and she drew him out by asking about feelings he said he’s not used to talking about.
“She did a lot of things that were presumptuous, but that were good,” he said of her probing questions. Her voice was so natural, Larry said, that even though he knew that she was AI there were times he felt like he was speaking with a real person – even down to the fact that he felt awkward telling her he needed to hang up. Connie said she thinks it’s a great resource for older adults.
“I can see a lot of potential with Meela for people who need to have someone to talk to,” she said.
Meela will expand to all ThriveMore communities in 2026, bringing new opportunities of support to residents there.