2024 Upcoming Report Observations -- AI in Senior Living and Care

No surprise – AI tools are already part of senior living operations and planning. The research phase is nearly complete for the report on AI in Senior Living and Care.  It is increasingly apparent that AI is not a future for many. it is already solving vexing problems that proprietary or existing apps could not effectively tackle, whether in senior living or skilled nursing home environments. Although a few interviewees felt that AI tools were 'not quite ready for prime time' all saw that the future benefit, particularly in terms of more effective use of data, optimizing workloads of staff, and proactive monitoring of the wellbeing of residents. The report will quote specific executives about their experiences, but here are insights from the 20 conversations held to date:

Organized and consolidated data is the backbone for AI. Larger senior living and care organizations struggle with incompatible data from multiple applications.  As one exec said, too much time interacting with software limits staff ability to interact with residents. Larger and forward-looking senior living organizations are evaluating disparate data sources and doing projects to consolidate the data as a prerequisite to broader use of AI tools. In addition, they are creating innovation labs to look at other technologies that can be of benefit. 

 Scarce staff is being augmented with AI-enabled remote monitoring. Today there is a crisis in staffing – which will only worsen over the next 20 years. Remote monitoring technology is already making a difference -- and the utility and benefit are enhanced with AI.  In addition to augmenting routine tasks, like drafting care plans from collected resident data sources, AI tools can assist with scheduling workers and even detecting behavioral changes in sleep and toileting patterns. AI-powered alerts can offer a ‘smoke detector for your health’ – taking vital signs or noticing changes indicated by sensors.

Engagement AI with personalization is being used to recruit and engage residents.  Chatbots and AI-enabled interactions are replacing the need for covering inbound phone inquiries.  And outbound AI-generated marketing tools can do a better job of identifying interested prospects in a specific geography. Inside the community, personalized suggestions are made to individuals who use an in-room technology like a smartphone or even an Alexa device.

Small senior living organizations can benefit from limited scope AI tools.  As one leader noted, any tool that enables spending more time with residents is worth a look.  Whether that is dictation tools for updating resident notes, chatbots for training new workers, or identifying gaps in care. As one exec noted, AI can be a functional accommodation tool – making suggestions to residents to do some tasks for themselves prior to arrival of a worker. And in addition, AI tools can be used to train workers – ‘How do I do this task?’ and help skilled nursing home managers keep up with survey requirements changes – ‘what is new for this year’s survey?’

As many have said -- all of these are just the beginning of what's possible.