Connected Compassion: Canada’s First Social-Robot Check-In Integrated with PointClickCare
- Yahya Saad
- Jul 7
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 15
Why this breakthrough matters
Technology meets compassion in senior care, and it’s creating exciting new possibilities. Imagine walking into a long-term care home and being greeted by a friendly robot that knows who you’re there to see. It seamlessly checks you in, guides you to your loved one’s room, and even offers a warm conversation – all powered by real-time data from PointClickCare.
PointClickCare is North America’s leading cloud-based healthcare software platform for long-term and post-acute care, trusted by more than 27,000 providers to manage clinical, financial, and operational workflows.Its unified data backbone connects care teams, residents, and families to ensure better outcomes and higher-quality care. (Source: pointclickcare.com)
This isn’t science fiction; it’s happening now in Canada, and it’s transforming how we care for seniors. GlobalDWS has pioneered the first social-robot check-in solution integrated with PointClickCare, bringing a game-changing blend of efficiency and heart to senior living communities.
Why does this breakthrough matter? As Canadians enjoy longer lives, by 2030 nearly one-quarter of the population will be 65 or older (up from 15% in 2013). Our long-term care network already includes 2,076 homes providing 198,000+ beds nationwide, yet demand still outpaces supply. Meanwhile, roughly 30% of Canadian seniors are at risk of social isolation – a factor linked to poorer health outcomes and higher mortality. And families face long wait times for care; in Ontario, over half of applicants wait 126 days or more for a long-term care bed. This dual challenge of scaling operations and keeping residents socially engaged calls for innovative solutions.
To tackle both, GlobalDWS turned to technology. By transforming our social service robots (GraceBot) into fully connected digital concierges that talk directly to PointClickCare, we aimed to reduce paperwork and combat loneliness. The result is a new way to support seniors and staff: a social robot concierge that handles tedious tasks, boosts engagement, and helps ensure every visitor gets a warm welcome and every resident stays connected.
Introducing the Social Application for Service Robots
Our new Social Application (GraceBot) is an mobile app based platform that runs on any GlobalDWS social or greeter robot, turning it into a smart, friendly concierge for senior living facilities. This app brings PointClickCare data to the front door in real time and enables the robot to assist with both administrative tasks and engaging interactions. Here’s how the robot elevates the visitor and resident experience:
Seamless visitor check-in: When a guest arrives, the robot uses live PointClickCare resident data (and even optional facial recognition) to verify the visitor, apply current health screening rules, and log their entry — no paper logbooks required. A visitor can check in with just a few taps on the robot’s touch screen, receive a printed name badge, and be on their way in under 3 minutes – a huge improvement over the 10–15 minutes of manual paperwork many homes used to require. The process is user-friendly and contact-free, making it not only faster but also safer and more convenient.
Live resident lookup: No more confusion about room numbers or units. The robot automatically retrieves real-time information from PointClickCare as soon as a visitor signs in. It can immediately tell the guest exactly which room their loved one is in (even if that changed recently) and guide them there. This ensures every visit is accurate and on-target – gone are the days of tracking down staff to ask “Where is Mom now?”.
Personalized engagement: Our social robot doesn’t just process data – it enriches the visit. As it escorts a visitor or while they wait, the robot can display family photos of the resident, play the resident’s favorite music, or show a fun welcome message. These personal touches help ease anxiety and spark conversation for both visitors and residents, turning a simple check-in into a warm, human experience. We’ve seen first-time visitors break into a smile when the robot greets them by name and plays a cheerful song that their loved one enjoys.
Automatic documentation: Every visitor’s check-in and check-out, their answers to screening questions, and the duration of their visit are automatically recorded real time. Staff no longer need to re-type information from sign-in sheets at day’s end; the digital record is created on the fly. Care managers get instant, accurate visitor logs, and there’s zero duplicate data entry required from staff.
Real-time insights: Because the system is fully digital, it can generate immediate insights. Dashboards track daily visitor volume, peak visiting times, average visit lengths, and even which robot features (photo displays, music, etc.) are used most. These analytics help administrators make data-driven decisions – for instance, adjusting staffing during busy visiting hours or identifying residents who haven’t had visitors recently (so staff can give them extra attention). In short, the robot doesn’t just perform tasks; it also provides actionable data to improve operations and personalize care.
By connecting a physical robot to the rich data in PointClickCare, GlobalDWS has created a self-service kiosk with a heart. Visitors get a high-tech yet humanized welcome, and staff get to offload routine tasks to an assistant that never gets tired. It’s cutting-edge technology delivering old-fashioned hospitality – a perfect blend for elevating senior care.
Early results from Ontario deployments
GlobalDWS is thrilled to be the first in Canada to implement a social-robot check-in solution fully integrated with PointClickCare, and early pilot programs in Ontario are already seeing remarkable results:
Faster check-ins & admissions: In the past, completing a new resident intake or visitor sign-in took 10–15 minutes of paperwork per person. With our robot-guided process tapping into PointClickCare, the entire check-in is done in under 3 minutes on average. That’s a dramatic time saving at the front door, making for happier visitors and freeing staff for other duties.
Reduced admin workload: Because information flows automatically into the system, staff spend far less time on data entry. Pilot sites report saving roughly 10 hours per week in front-desk clerical work – time which can be redirected to resident care and engagement. As one receptionist put it, “Our robot doesn’t get writer’s cramp – and I finally have time to chat with the residents instead of shuffling papers!”
Engaged, happier residents: Perhaps most exciting, the social engagement features are making a positive impact on resident well-being. Seniors who interact with the robots regularly have shown visible improvements in mood and alertness. In a recent study, older adults who had sessions with social robots showed significantly lower loneliness and depression compared to those without robot interaction. In our pilots, residents have embraced the robots – many greet them by name each morning – showing that a friendly robot really can brighten someone’s day. (One Ontario home even nicknamed their robot greeter “Buzz”, because it creates a buzz of excitement on each visit.)
These outcomes show that the Social Application is doing exactly what it was designed to do: simplify operations and enrich human connections at the same time. Families have noticed the difference too – visitor feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying the robot check-in makes the home feel innovative, caring, and safe.
The bigger picture for care operators
Beyond the immediate wins, an integrated solution like this delivers long-term strategic benefits for senior living operators:
Regulatory confidence: Every visitor response and timestamp is logged in PointClickCare, creating an automatic digital audit trail that proves compliance with health screening protocols and visitation policies. During inspections or audits, administrators can easily pull up these records instead of sorting through binders of sign-in sheets. Not only does this save time, it also provides peace of mind – knowing that nothing is missed or lost.
Stronger family satisfaction: Real-time resident info means no more uncertainty or waiting around for updates. Families can visit knowing they’ll quickly find their loved one and have the latest information. By eliminating the “Where is Dad right now?” guesswork, the robot helps make visits more purposeful and pleasant. And the novelty of being greeted by a high-tech yet friendly robot leaves a great impression – many visitors walk away saying “Wow, that was neat!” This boosts overall satisfaction with the care home.
Empowered staff, less burnout: For nurses, aides, and administrators, the robot is like a new team member who never tires of the boring stuff. Routine tasks such as guest registration, repetitive announcements, or simple engagement activities can be offloaded to the robot, lightening the load on human workers. This gives staff more time and energy for the aspects of care that truly require the human touch – like one-on-one conversations, clinical duties, or hands-on support. In an industry where burnout is a real concern, having a tireless robot assistant can meaningfully improve staff morale and reduce stress.
Future-proof platform: Our solution is built on a flexible AI framework (leveraging Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services), which means new features can be added via software updates without any hardware changes. We’re already exploring capabilities like voice-activated check-ins (imagine just saying “I’m here to see Grandpa” and the robot checks you in), multilingual support for diverse communities, and predictive alerts if a resident hasn’t had a visitor in a while. Adopting this system now puts an LTC home on the path of continuous innovation – the same robot will keep getting smarter over time.
In short, the GlobalDWS Social Application enhances care quality while also improving operational efficiency. It’s not often that a single initiative can make work easier for staff, improve compliance, delight families, and brighten a resident’s day all at once – yet that’s exactly what this integrated robot solution achieves.
Looking ahead
With senior populations rising and care providers striving to do more with limited resources, solutions that scale both people and processes are crucial. The GlobalDWS Social Application for service robots, tightly integrated with PointClickCare, is our contribution to a more connected, compassionate future of care. By blending advanced robotics with healthcare data, we’re showing how innovation can solve practical problems on the ground today, while laying the foundation for smarter care environments tomorrow.
This project is just the beginning. We envision a future where social robots are standard members of care teams – always available to greet, assist, and engage, working hand-in-hand with human caregivers. The early success of our PointClickCare-integrated robot solution is compelling proof that such innovations are not just theoretical; they’re already making a difference today. And as more homes adopt these technologies, we expect the benefits to multiply – more smiles, more efficiency, and more quality time between caregivers, seniors, and families.
GlobalDWS is proud to lead the way in this exciting new era of senior care. The feedback so far has been inspiring: seniors love their robot companions, staff appreciate the extra help, and families notice the improved experience. Caring for our elders is a labor of love, and with connected solutions like this, that love is supported by cutting-edge tools that make it go even further.
And there’s more to come – our roadmap includes additional integrations with PointClickCare, expanding beyond check-in to support areas like medication reminders, real-time care updates, and personalized engagement programs.
Want to experience our robot concierge in action? info@globaldws.com to book an on-site or virtual demo. Come meet Grace – our social greeter robot – and discover how connected compassion can transform the way you serve your residents and their families. The future of senior living is here, and it’s more caring and innovative than ever.
References
Statistics Canada – Daily release, “Population projections: 2030 seniors share” (2022).
Canadian Institute for Health Information, “Recent Staffing and Quality Indicator Trends in Canadian Long-Term Care” (2025).
Government of Canada, “Social Isolation of Seniors—Toolkit Vol. 1” (2024).
PointClickCare Press Release, “PointClickCare Serves 27,000+ Providers Across North America” (2025).
CAN Health / RNAO & PointClickCare, “Digital Admissions Tool Adopted by 170 Ontario LTC Homes” (2024).
PubMed, “Social Robot Interventions Reduce Loneliness and Depression in Older Adults” (2024 meta-analysis).
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