Tech Pilot Program Underway

Jewish Family & Community Services Program Manager Nicole Balog-Bickerstaff (right) introduced Mary to Alexa Together and set her up with a new Amazon Echo Show 10 as part of a JFCS one-year tech pilot program. The Alexa Together Program, which is funded through a $92,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Aging, provides participants with an Amazon Echo Show, a touchscreen tablet that can be used for video calling, watching tv, and listening to music, among other things, and Alexa Together, a subscription service which includes 24/7 urgent response and a “circle of support” which allows loved ones to have access to their family member’s Echo Show to have contact with them. The goal of the JFCS program is to provide about 70 participants with the Echo Show and Alexa Together and see if it affects certain health outcomes that the Ohio Department of Aging wants to study.