Papa Announces New Trust and Safety Measures to Further Support Members and Papa Pals

Company introduces new Trust and Safety Roadmap with enhanced measures following in-depth review by world-class safety expert

MIAMI, July 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Papa, a curated platform of companionship and support for older adults and families, today announced a new Trust and Safety Roadmap, inclusive of enhanced new safety measures, protections, policies, and protocols. The Trust and Safety Roadmap was developed in collaboration with world-class safety expert Robert Chesnut, who brings 30 years of experience spanning the U.S Department of Justice, to eBay and Airbnb.

"The initiatives identified in Papa's Trust and Safety Roadmap are the result of an in-depth assessment of the company's existing trust and safety processes, policies, and systems, including insights from more than 25 interviews with current and former employees and industry leaders," said Chesnut. "I presented my report to Papa's board and executive team, and I am pleased to see the company announced its new safety measures today."

Papa's platform connects older adults and families with vetted companions to provide social support and successfully address the social drivers that disproportionately affect health outcomes. In a randomized controlled study, 69% of Papa participants reported a reduction in loneliness and average physically and mentally unhealthy days were reduced by 4.5 and 4 days, respectively. Additionally, claims-based analyses by Papa clients revealed a 20% reduction in emergency department visits, an increase in cancer screenings (5.4% increase in breast cancer screening rate), and 6% lower total cost of care.

Today, Papa operates nationwide, has conducted more than 1.6 million visits, and is on track to conduct nearly 1 million visits in 2023 alone. While one incident is too many, only 0.1% of in-person visits have contained a member-reported safety complaint and 0.3% of visits have contained a Pal-reported safety complaint. By comparison, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 41% of traditional home healthcare workers have reported sexual harassment.

Papa has consistently put trust and safety at the core of its operations, and over the past year, has taken even further measures to improve the security and safety of members and Papa Pals on its platform. This includes fundamentally reviewing and revamping its screening process to go above and beyond the industry standard, adding manual reviews of the raw data background check vendors receive, in addition to analysis by the background check vendor's software, to avoid potential configuration issues. Prior to implementing this enhanced screening process, the company conducted a retroactive manual review of every Papa Pal in its system to ensure these high standards are met across its network.

Papa also significantly enhanced its Papa Pal training and education, more than doubling touch points to its Pals; rolled out enhanced geolocation technology to catch anomalous situations that could present safety concerns; implemented software that automatically scans for over 300 keywords to uncover and escalate safety-related issues sooner; and improved the ability to report visit problems within its app.

Based on Chesnut's recent review, Papa is prioritizing additional areas for improvement and several initiatives that will roll out over the next three to six months to build on the safety measures described above, including: 

• adding additional trust and safety expertise to the organization by establishing an external Safety Advisory Board 
• further increasing mandatory training activities for Papa Pals, with a focus on combating sexual and other workplace harassment, responding to emergency situations, and cultural competency during onboarding
• enhancing Papa Pal screenings and identity verification checks, with monitoring related to transportation and vehicle safety standards
• adding new in-visit and post-visit safety features for Papa Pals and members, improving the ability to report visit problems—across multiple secure channels, receive assistance in the event of an emergency, and more
• rolling out more secure communication channels, such as number anonymization, without hindering relationship-building

"I'm deeply committed to protecting the safety of our members and Papa Pals as we build and refine a new model of care. It's important, and it's personal. I think of every member as I would my own grandfather, who I called Papa, and every Pal as a friend," said Andrew Parker, founder and CEO of Papa. "Our work to uphold trust and safety among our members and Pals is at the center of our operations and mission. Over the last year-plus, we've taken consistent measures to improve the safety and security of our platform to go above and beyond the industry standard. And we will continue to do everything we can to ensure the well-being of our community and make changes to how we do business wherever necessary."

Find Papa's full Trust and Safety Roadmap here.

About Papa

Papa is a new kind of care, built on human connection. Across the country, health plans and employers look to Papa to provide vital social support by pairing older adults and families with Papa Pals, caring and vetted companions, who provide a helping hand and an open ear, resulting in less loneliness and better health. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Miami, Papa is backed by Canaan, Tiger Global Management, Comcast Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, TCG, Initialized Capital, and Seven Seven Six, among other revered institutional and individual investors. We envision a world where no one has to go it alone. Learn more at papa.com.

Papa Media Contact:
Jill Bongiorni Meadows
jmeadows@papa.com

SOURCE Papa Inc.