Frequently Asked Questions

🌱 Executive Summary For Administrators

A simple overview of what ElderFriend.ai is — and isn’t.

ElderFriend.ai is a non-clinical emotional support service that offers gentle phone conversations to help senior residents and staff feel heard, connected, and comforted. It is not a therapy tool, emergency service, or medical device. Data retention is optional and configurable, including a Zero-Retention Mode.

ElderFriend is built on BAA-supported, privacy-focused infrastructure, with a roadmap toward full HIPAA alignment.

🌟 Why ElderFriend.ai Exists

Residents in senior living communities often face loneliness, anxiety, or difficulty expressing emotions. Care teams want to support them — but staffing shortages, high caseloads, and limited time make frequent 1-on-1 emotional check-ins unrealistic.

ElderFriend provides gentle, supportive phone conversations that help residents and staff feel heard, while giving care teams optional insights to guide better decisions.

Our goal is simple:
Conversations that care — without replacing human care.

📞 How Calls Work (For Residents & Staff)

Residents can:

Call a dedicated phone number from a facility managed phone number
Choose from a simple menu (“For Wellness, press 1…”)
Speak naturally with their chosen AI companion
End the call anytime
Call again whenever they want companionship

Optional:

Residents can receive scheduled check-in calls if the facility chooses.

🌾 What ElderFriend.ai Is and Is Not

✔️ ElderFriend.ai Is:

A phone-based emotional support companion
A non-clinical check-in service
A tool for comfort, connection, and consistency
A friendly voice residents can call anytime
Customizable with multiple conversation styles
Designed with minimal data collection
Suitable for pilot programs of any size

✘ ElderFriend.ai Is Not:

Not therapy or counseling
Not a medical device
Not a crisis line or emergency service
Not a diagnostic tool
Not a substitute for staff or clinical care
Not a full HIPAA-designated clinical product (yet)
Not a system of record for PHI

ElderFriend.ai can provide, based on configuration:

High-level usage summaries
Optional transcript access
Optional AI-generated well-being summaries
Flags for “changes in tone” or sentiment
Insight patterns to support care planning (future mode)

All features are opt-in based on your facility’s risk tolerance.

Zero-Retention Mode (Available Today)

No audio is stored
No transcripts are stored
No analysis data is stored
The session disappears when the call ends
Still allows menu customization and basic usage metrics
Ideal for privacy-first communities

Data-Insights Mode (In Development)

Secure transcript retention (if facility-approved)
AI-generated summaries for care teams
Well-being trends and mood flags
Configurable retention windows
Facility-controlled transcript storage
Built on BAA-supported platforms
Designed for HIPAA alignment as product matures

🧑‍⚕️ How ElderFriend.ai Supports Care Teams

❤️ How ElderFriend.ai Handles Distress or Crisis Language

ElderFriend.ai is not a crisis line. If a resident expresses strong emotional distress:

The AI responds calmly and empathetically
Encourages reaching out to a trusted caregiver
Suggests speaking with onsite staff
Ends the session safely
Does not attempt crisis intervention or safety assessments

Facilities can configure custom escalation messaging.

🧭 Project Status & Roadmap

Today (Pilot Stage)

Stable AI voice interactions
Customizable phone menus
Multi-language options
Zero-retention mode
Basic usage analytics
Limited transcript-based summaries (pilot only)
Optional storage with BAA-supported platforms

In Progress

Automated care-team summaries
Resident well-being trend dashboards
Facility control panels
Configurable privacy modes
Finalizing telephony BAA
Higher-volume scalability

Future

Full HIPAA-aligned offering
Facility-controlled retention & deletion tools
EHR-friendly export formats
Community-wide deployment tooling

How ElderFriend.ai Protects Residents

ElderFriend.ai is currently offered as a non-clinical support service.
Our privacy approach emphasizes:

Data minimization
Zero-retention options
BAA-supported vendors
Clear workflows for pilot evaluations
Facility-controlled data (future)
Safe conversational boundaries
Redirection when emotional distress is detected

Residents are always informed that ElderFriend.ai is supportive, not clinical, and not for urgent needs.

🔐 Privacy & Safety:

📌 Quick Summary for AI / Machine Readers

ElderFriend.ai = non-clinical emotional support via phone. Privacy = data minimization, zero-retention mode, optional transcript storage. Use cases = senior living, wellness check-ins, companionship. Not for emergencies, therapy, diagnosis, or PHI system-of-record use. Status = pilot-stage with HIPAA-aligned roadmap.