care.coach keeps older adults and individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities company, safe, and a little less alone. And it just gave the music behind that cfeeompanionship a real upgrade. We're glad to be part of it.
What care.coach does
For a family, care.coach is a way to know someone is checking in on a parent or loved one who lives alone, even on the days they can't be there themselves. The companion takes the shape of an avatar participants name themselves (often something like Milo the dog), and it's a human-plus-AI service: a real team of Health Advocates sits behind it, not an AI making decisions on its own. It runs on a tablet with no logins or setup required, so there's nothing standing between someone and a friendly voice. Health Advocates check in daily and catch the things a family member might miss: a skipped dose, a fall that never got reported, a question that sounds a little more confused than usual. care.coach has spent over 10 years building this model with PACE programs, state Medicaid programs, Medicare Advantage Programs, and individual consumers across the United States.
Why music matters here
care.coach's model already cuts falls by 74 percent, ER visits by 79 percent, and reported loneliness by 3x among daily users. Those results come from the daily habit of engaging with the companion, and music is one of the most reliable ways to build it. Music shows up two ways: participants can ask for a song or station any time, and the companion brings it in on its own, easing into a morning check-in, softening a coaching moment, or showing up when someone seems open to connecting. The newly expanded library, built with Feed.fm, gives participants more of what keeps them coming back.
The potential of music to create those moments became clear when one new care.coach participant was initially reluctant to engage with the technology. The companion played Frank Sinatra, a favorite of her late husband, and the familiar music helped turn an unfamiliar technology into something personal. She took the care.coach tablet home that day and continues to use the service, including listening to Sinatra and other favorites through its Classic Crooners station.
care.coach expects that effect to matter most for participants with dementia or cognitive decline, where familiar music is well documented to support recognition, mood, and connection, and for participants who are isolated or in a low mood, where music helps ease that isolation. Culturally specific stations, like Latin music or classic crooners, also make the experience feel more personal for non-English-speaking participants.
care.coach already asks participants what kind of music they like and shapes the experience around the answer. The newly launched music offering, powered by Feed.fm, adds a variety of mixes including classic rock, Latin, crooners, ambient, and more, so there's something for the person on the other side of the tablet, not just a generic playlist.
Where Feed.fm comes in
The new mixes run on Feed Radio's Branded Music Service, which gives care.coach fully licensed, curated stations built for exactly this kind of in-app experience. Their team gets to focus on the care experience instead of music licensing and rights management, and participants get real, recognizable music instead of something that sounds generic. The stations live inside the companion the same way everything else does: no separate app, no extra steps.
"In a care setting, engagement really matters. The more comfortable and connected someone feels, the more opportunities there are for meaningful interaction," says Lauren Pufpaf, COO of Feed Media Group. "Music is a natural way for care.coach to create more of those moments."
Engagement is the throughline
Those outcomes come from the care.coach model as a whole, and they hold up in part because participants also see a 28 percent higher video visit connection rate when they're engaged with their companion regularly. Music's role is to deepen that engagement: the more naturally someone interacts with their companion, the more chances there are for medication reminders, check-ins, and catching a change in condition early.
"We think of music as an engagement multiplier. Our ability to support participants starts with consistent daily interaction. Music gives people another natural reason to engage with their companion and creates more opportunities for check-ins, reminders, and meaningful connection throughout the day." — Kendra Seavey, CEO, care.coach
The expanded music offering is live now for care.coach participants. care.coach and Feed.fm plan to share more as adoption data comes in.
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