03/16/2026
Unpopular opinion: AI is NOT the most important thing happening in home care right now.
I know. The conference circuit disagrees.
Modern whole person care frameworks now require clinicians to address physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing as integrated components of patient health.
This is a reclassification of what we ought to mean by 'care' as healthcare professionals.
We've spent years adopting systems to track vitals, flag missed doses, and prevent falls. All of which are extremely necessary and important, and extremely incomplete.
Because a client who is physically safe but emotionally isolated is not truly receiving 'care', they are just being maintained.
The agencies I'm watching closely lead with what their caregivers are trained to notice, especially in older adults - loneliness, grief, anxiety, withdrawal. There is an emphasis placed on the companionship that develops in home care and what holistic support can do for an entire family.
That's the harder operational lift. And to me it is the one that will create the biggest positive change in the lives of those who need care.