Lee St. James on Social Robots in ElderCare
Lee St. James may not have “invented” the social robot concept but her application of it in Assisted Living and Residential Care settings is nothing short of genius.
She began exploring the concept when her own father was retreating into dementia in another city. While Mindy’s development was too late for her father, Lee quickly realized the robot has a place and a purpose in several areas of residential care. Their welcome has been immediate and enthusiastic.
In this episode, Lee explains the potential of the social robots to reduce social isolation, loneliness and stress for older adults and introduces us to her current Mindy.
This is absolutely a must-share episode, especially as we learn all the issues that arose in care facilities during the pandemic and, as we all age, we’ll now have a headstart on being “handlers” if we go to live in a complex with a few Mindy’s roaming the Rec Therapy departments.
The Two Boomer Women Podcast - in conversation with Lee St. James
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About the guest: Lee St. James
Lee St James is the founder and president of Social Robots. She is passionate about the opportunity for robots to relieve social isolation, boredom, and loneliness for older adults.
Her vision is to support the mental health of residents and staff in assisted living by
leveraging technology to help people be more connected with each other.
As a tech-savvy consultant and entrepreneur with over 25 years of business experience,
Lee was most recently the General Manager and Vice-President of a design studio that
developed robot apps for banking and automotive. She founded Social Robots in 2019 after seeing first-hand the impact of social isolation on her father as he struggled with Lewy-Body dementia.
She has an Honors Business degree from Western University in London, Ontario and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
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Lee, so good to see you thriving. Congratulations on your new adventure. What a blessing for those communities.
Love always.
Thank you so much Patricia for your good wishes. I do feel like I have found my calling… it is a passion of mine to follow this path and find like-minded retirement homes who realize the value that social robots can contribute to the overall emotional, mental and physical health of residents and staff. I hope that Mindy can help many retirement communities across North America to transform how residents and staff engage with each other and with technology… one step at a time!