Within minutes, staff from The Meadows of Napa Valley were at her side. The Meadows recently introduced Serenity Connect, “a technology that brings service providers, residents and their families together,” said a news release.
The community of more than 200 residents in south Napa — one of 14 such communities from Pacific Retirement Services (PRS) — is the first continuing care retirement community location in the San Francisco Bay Area to install the HIPAA-compliant, personalized “e-concierge” platform to serve its residents and staff, said the release.
More than just technology, “Serenity helps bridge the gaps that cause families financial, physical and emotional distress when adult children live far from aging parents,” it said. Serenity Connect helps strengthen relationships between families and the care teams entrusted with their loved one’s safety and quality of life.
The service makes connecting as simple as voice-activated commands like “Call my son,” and it creates a shared app where care teams and families can share questions or updates, said the release.
For providers, it enables community-wide messages with immediate notifications such as daily activity schedules, restaurant menu updates, emergency weather reports or elevator repair. The technology also supports resident safety with customization based on residents’ daily habits, and helping identify when there is an anomaly, said the company.
Today, Serenity Connect partners with Amazon Alexa Smart Properties for Senior Living to bring simplicity and connection to residents, families and staff at the Meadows and nearby University Retirement Community (URC) in Davis. The system will ultimately be rolled out to all PRS life plan communities nationwide including Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Residents who’ve been interacting with Serenity Connect since early 2024 are impressed, saying the service is just as valuable for daily check-ins as it is for potential emergency situations.
“I’m so grateful that I was able to call out for assistance from my apartment the instant I needed it,” said Blackburn.
“Being the first in the Bay Area to implement this real-time communications platform puts the Meadows at the forefront of safety and security for our residents,” said Wayne Panchesson, executive director for The Meadows of Napa Valley. “In addition, our care teams get to spend an additional 3-4 hours of quality time with residents every day because of the time they’re saving with Serenity. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
“Technology is crucial in serving older adults with dignity and efficiency,” said Katherine Wells, CEO of Serenity Connect. “Forward-thinking communities like The Meadows and URC understand how ’smart’ caregiving modernizes the senior living experience for residents, their families and staff alike.”
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