The Emera Group, a major player in elderly housing in Europe, is rolling out the Spokeo listening assistant across its 45 French-speaking facilities. A partnership that reflects a shared conviction: communication is the foundation of care, and hearing loss should never be an obstacle to human connection.
Communication: a form of care in its own right
In facilities for the elderly, communication is not a simple exchange of information: it is the primary tool of care. Explaining a treatment, obtaining consent before a medical procedure, reassuring a disoriented resident, welcoming an anxious family: each of these moments rests on the ability to be understood.
When that ability is compromised by hearing loss, the entire chain of care quality is affected. The caregiver repeats, raises their voice, shortens their explanations. The doctor simplifies their words to the point of losing precision. Informed consent (a legal and ethical requirement before any medical procedure) becomes a fragile formality when there is no certainty that the resident has truly understood what is being proposed.
Beyond care, communication is also what maintains social connection. The Lancet Commission on dementia identifies untreated hearing loss as the leading modifiable risk factor for dementia, ahead of smoking or physical inactivity. In practice, this cycle is visible every day: a resident who no longer understands the conversations around them withdraws, takes part in fewer activities, becomes isolated. And that isolation, by reducing cognitive stimulation, accelerates decline. Restoring communication is therefore not a mere comfort: it is an act of prevention.
A blind spot that the usual responses do not fill
Faced with these challenges, facilities are not standing still. Training teams to speak more clearly, setting up quiet spaces for important exchanges, supporting residents in wearing their hearing aids: these efforts are real and necessary.
But they are not always enough. When a resident can no longer wear hearing aids, because cognitive impairment makes any handling impossible, because the devices have been lost, or simply because they are refused, the problem remains. The caregiver speaks, but the resident does not understand. And goodwill alone cannot change that.
Why conventional hearing aids are no longer enough in care homes
In facilities, several realities combine and make the hearing aid ineffective for some residents:
- cognitive impairment makes fitting, adjusting and daily maintenance impossible without help;
- the devices are frequently lost, broken or forgotten, and their replacement (€1,000 to €3,000 per ear, not covered) is not immediate;
- some residents refuse any device, out of discomfort or denial of their hearing loss;
- noisy common areas overwhelm a hearing aid that amplifies every sound indiscriminately.
It is this blind spot that the Emera Group chose to address, by seeking an approach that no longer relies on the resident, but on the person they are talking to.
Spokeo × Emera: when it's the speaker who adapts
It is this approach that caught the attention of the Emera Group. Spokeo, winner of the Grand Prix at the 2025 International Concours Lépine, works the opposite way to a hearing aid: the caregiver, doctor or relative wears a lapel microphone that captures their voice, and a light air- and bone-conduction headset is simply placed on the resident. No adjustment, no handling: the connection is automatic. Designed with the expertise of Jonathan Goldminc, a qualified hearing-care professional and co-founder of Spokeo, the device meets the realities of geriatric care.
Why Emera chose Spokeo
The Emera Group, 100% of whose facilities are rated A or B by France's Haute Autorité de Santé, chose Spokeo for very concrete reasons:
Concrete benefits for three audiences
Following a conversation, understanding a caregiver, talking with a loved one
Shared moments regained, without repetition or misunderstanding
Less vocal fatigue and secured informed consent
The results: a pilot that "far exceeded expectations"
Before rolling the device out more widely, the Emera Group first tested it in 5 of its facilities, including the Le Parc residence. Spokeo simply entrusted the devices to the group, which distributed them according to its own criteria: the indicators below are therefore those measured by Emera, in real conditions. The verdict, published by the group itself: "Tested in 5 Emera facilities, this solution far exceeded our expectations. Residents, families and care teams unanimously praised its effectiveness."
This success rests on seven measured indicators among users:
The most telling figure is surely the last: 100% of users recommend the device and wish to continue using it. It was following this pilot that the Emera Group decided to roll out Spokeo across all 45 of its French-speaking facilities.
Indicators measured and reported by the Emera Group during the pilot phase, April 2026.
The partnership on video
The Emera Group presents the rollout of the Spokeo listening assistant across its facilities:
A rollout across 45 French-speaking facilities
The partnership between Emera and Spokeo covers all 45 of the group's French-speaking facilities in mainland France, in the French overseas departments and territories, in Switzerland and in Belgium.
This decision to deploy at scale reflects a conviction: when a resident can no longer hear, it is not only their comfort that is at stake, it is the quality of care as a whole. Communication is the foundation of care, of obtaining consent, of maintaining social connection. And when conventional solutions no longer work, others must be offered.
For facilities interested in a similar approach, Spokeo offers a pack dedicated to healthcare facilities and personalised support.
How to improve communication in a facility
Beyond the choice of a device, a few simple practices help improve exchanges with residents who are hard of hearing:
- Face the resident at their eye level, in a quiet environment where possible
- Speak clearly, without shouting: raising your voice distorts sounds and worsens misunderstanding
- Rephrase rather than repeat word for word: a different word may be better perceived
- Use visual aids (gestures, images, writing) to complement the spoken message
- Train teams in the specifics of communicating with people who are hard of hearing: an investment that benefits the whole facility
To go further on this topic, our detailed guide offers practical tips for supporting hard-of-hearing residents in care homes.
The partnership in the press
The rollout of Spokeo within the Emera Group was covered by several sources:
Conclusion
The partnership between the Emera Group and Spokeo illustrates a concrete shift: when conventional solutions are no longer enough, other approaches exist to maintain connection and quality of care. With 45 facilities equipped, this large-scale initiative paves the way for better hearing care in residential settings, for the benefit of residents, their families and the professionals who support them every day.
