An AI companion is just a phone call away for residents of this senior living community—and their mental health is improving as a result
“Residents of a nonprofit senior living community in Riverdale, N.Y., took part in a recent pilot study to determine whether calls from a virtual companion named Meela would alleviate depression and loneliness. [..]
Research shows that phone calls with an empathetic listener can help reduce loneliness among older adults, leading to improved mental health. In-person interactions are even more effective. But nursing-home residents don’t always get many visits or calls.
The first Meela test phase, involving 23 RiverSpring Living residents, produced promising results, giving hope to the idea that AI can be used for a lot more than workplace efficiency and homework help.
Meela was founded by Josh Sach, a former tech product manager who was inspired to create a solution to the loneliness epidemic after seeing his late father-in-law experience isolation. The name of his companion bot comes from the Hebrew word “mila,” meaning “word.” He and his team listened to more than 2,000 voices before choosing a soothing-sounding, middle-aged voice actress.
Sach declined to say which tech company’s AI model powers Meela, but he said it already had strong safeguards and that his team added additional guardrails to ensure Meela doesn’t give medical, legal or financial advice. While it isn’t intended for clinical mental-health treatment, Meela is designed to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy—validating residents’ feelings and suggesting solutions to problems.
Meela remembers prior conversations with residents, who have to consent to their conversations being recorded and transcribed. Sach says the transcripts are retained for the duration of the account, unless someone requests their deletion. They aren’t available for users or their families. And where applicable, the recordings and transcripts are handled in accordance with HIPAA, a federal patient-protection law, and the care facility’s instructions. [..]
RiverSpring pays $65 a month for each resident who uses Meela and is recruiting more for a second phase of the study. To participate, residents must be able to understand that they are speaking with an AI.
In the first phase, participants’ depression and anxiety levels were measured before talking to Meela and 30 days after. Those with moderate to severe depression or anxiety were found to have demonstrated notable improvements after speaking with Meela at least once a week.
Participants spoke to Meela for an average of 10 minutes at a time, but some talked for more than an hour. Staffers also noticed that study participants were engaging in more social activities after talking to the bot, says Dr. Zachary Palace, medical director of RiverSpring Living’s nursing home.
“It’s important that we recognize this as a complement to the care we’re giving and not a substitute for it,” Palace says. “It’s not something we want people to fall back on to the exclusion of other social engagements.”
Sach says Meela was designed to encourage human interaction. Conversations with Meela are capped at two hours. She reminds people to call their loved ones and suggests activities at the center, such as bingo night. Residents typically receive calls from Meela at scheduled times on their landlines or cellphones, but they can also call her anytime they want.”
Full article, J Jargon, Wall Street Journal, 2025.6.14