Amazon Alexa introduces 'Care Hub' for easy remote caregiving

Amazon has now introduced the new "Care Hub, a set of Alexa voice assistant features designed to help simplify the remote caregiving experience for both the person providing  support and their ageing loved one.

The Care Hub gives customers a new, easy way to check in on their loved one remotely, while maintaining privacy, with features like the high-level activity feed and alerts, Amazon said in a blog post on Wednesday.

It also gives ageing customers the comfort of knowing they can just ask Alexa to call for help in case they need it.

To get started with the Care Hub, customers first create a connection between their two Alexa accounts.

The ageing loved one will need an Echo or Alexa-enabled device.

The family member providing support just needs the Alexa app on their phone.

The Care Hub will work once the loved one sends an invitation and the family member accepts.

The family member providing support receives Care Hub alerts and the activity feed in the Alexa app.

Family members can set up and receive alerts when their loved one has had their first activity of the day, or get notified if no activity is detected by a certain time, such as 12 p.m.

When they are checking in on the app, they can easily tap to call.

Amazon said it designed the Care Hub with privacy in mind.

"We've spent a lot of time thinking about the activity feed, and taken measures to limit what the family member can actually see," Amazon said.

For example, when checking the activity feed, the family member would be able to see their loved one was using Alexa for entertainment, but not the song or podcast they were listening to or what they  said to Alexa, it added.

Importantly, older adults one can also easily get help when they need it. The link between accounts can set the family member as the emergency contact.

If help is needed, the loved one can simply say "Alexa, call for help" and Alexa will call, text, and send a push notification to alert the family member.

The Care Hub is rolling out for customers in the US.

Amazon said it will continue to learn from customer feedback and that it plans to introduce more features to this service over time.