How Connected Care Technology Can Support Home Care During a Caregiver Shortage

The caregiver shortage is creating a difficult reality for home-care organizations.

Demand for care at home continues to grow. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 760,500 openings for home health and personal care aides each year over the next decade, reflecting both growth in demand and the need to replace workers who leave the field.

At the same time, the workforce itself is under pressure from several directions. Pay, scheduling, training, career pathways, and working conditions all affect whether caregivers enter the profession and whether they stay.

Immigration policy is also part of that workforce picture.

Immigrant workers make up 33% of the direct-care workforce in home-care settings, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. Changes that reduce immigration, affect work authorization, or create uncertainty around enforcement can make an already limited labor pool even tighter.

PHI, a national nonprofit focused on strengthening the direct-care workforce, has also documented how changes in immigration status, work authorization, and enforcement can affect the availability and stability of direct-care workers.

There is no single solution to that problem.

Home-care organizations need more caregivers. They also need stronger retention, better support for existing workers, and a stable pipeline of people entering the field.

But there is another practical question organizations have to answer at the same time:

How can we make better use of the human care hours we already have?

The Hours Between Home-Care Visits Matter

A professional caregiver may spend only a few hours in a client’s home.

A care manager may be responsible for many clients at once.

Family members may also be involved, but information often depends on someone noticing a change, deciding it matters, and communicating it to the right person.

That leaves many hours each day when no professional caregiver is physically present.

Those hours may still contain useful information.

An older adult may begin spending more time in bed than usual. A morning routine may shift. Activity around the home may look different from the person’s typical pattern.

None of those changes automatically tells a caregiver what is wrong.

But knowing that something has changed may help a caregiver arrive with better questions and a clearer idea of where to pay attention.

That is one place where connected-care technology can help.

Connected Care Can Provide Information Between Visits

Livindi uses passive motion, door, and bed sensors to help build a picture of an older adult’s usual daily activity. The system can notify caregivers when activity patterns change, while the Livindi Helper app gives authorized caregivers access to information about what has been happening at home.

The goal is not to tell a caregiver what a change means.

It is to make useful information available so the caregiver can apply professional judgment.

For example, knowing that a client has been spending more time in bed than usual may prompt a caregiver to ask additional questions during the next visit.

A care manager who sees a change in routine may decide to follow up with the client, family, or care team.

Instead of beginning with a general question such as, “Has anyone noticed anything different?” the conversation can begin with something more specific.

That can make limited care time more focused.

Biometric Information Can Add Another Layer

For organizations or families that want additional health information, Livindi can also incorporate biometric monitoring.

The Livindi Smart Watch can monitor pulse, blood oxygen, sleep, body temperature, respiration, heart-rate variability, and steps.

The Livindi Bed Sensor can monitor sleep as well as pulse and respiratory rate while the person is sleeping, without requiring a wearable. Livindi says this information is available to caregivers through the Helper app.

Additional supported devices include a pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, and scale.

This information does not replace professional or clinical assessment.

But when available, it can provide another piece of the picture alongside daily routine and activity.

Shared Information Can Reduce Some of the Chasing

The caregiver shortage affects more than direct-care workers.

Care managers, supervisors, and family members also spend time gathering and relaying information.

One person may call the aide. Another may call the parent. Someone else may send an update to the care manager.

That communication remains important.

But a shared source of routine, activity, and available health information can make those conversations more useful.

Instead of relying entirely on individual observations or repeated check-in calls, authorized members of the care team can have another way to understand what has been happening between visits.

That may help reduce some of the time spent piecing together routine updates and allow more time for coordination, follow-up, and direct support.

Automatic Alerts Matter, Too

Connected care should not depend on someone remembering to open an app and look for information.

Livindi can automatically notify caregivers when activity patterns change. Its system also includes notifications related to health information and bed activity, depending on the devices being used.

Older adults also have direct ways to ask for help.

Livindi offers a call button, and its voice-activated “Help Me” feature notifies the care team when someone asks for help. Video calling through the LivindiPad provides another way for older adults, families, and caregivers to stay connected.

These features serve different purposes, but together they create additional layers of awareness and communication around the person receiving care.

Technology Cannot Replace a Missing Caregiver

This distinction is essential.

Connected-care technology cannot replace caregivers an organization has been unable to hire.

It cannot substitute for the judgment of an experienced aide, the physical assistance someone needs with daily activities, or the reassurance and companionship that come from another human being being present.

People need people.

Professional caregivers bring observation, judgment, physical support, communication, and human connection that sensors, watches, and apps cannot provide.

Technology can support a different part of the care equation.

It can help extend awareness into the hours when a professional caregiver is not physically present.

It can help the next caregiver arrive with more information.

It can give care managers another source of information between visits.

And it can give the older adult simple ways to connect or request help when they need it.

That is not the same as replacing care.

It is another layer of support around the care already being provided.

A Caregiver Workforce Strategy Needs More Than One Answer

The direct-care workforce needs more people.

It also needs better retention, fair compensation, stronger career pathways, supportive working conditions, and a stable workforce pipeline. PHI estimates that the United States will need to fill 9.7 million direct-care job openings between 2024 and 2034 when both new jobs and replacement needs are included.

Home-care organizations cannot technology their way out of a labor shortage.

But they can look carefully at how staff time is being used.

Can caregivers arrive knowing more about what happened between visits?

Can care managers spend less time trying to piece together routine updates?

Can changes in daily activity become visible sooner?

Can families and professionals share useful information without creating more work for the older adult?

Can optional biometric information provide additional context when appropriate?

Those are worthwhile questions when human care capacity is limited.

Connected-care technology will not solve the caregiver shortage. But used thoughtfully, it can help caregivers spend more of their limited time on the work that requires a human being.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can technology solve the caregiver shortage?
No. The caregiver shortage is a workforce problem that requires more workers, better retention, stronger job quality, and a stable pipeline of caregivers. Technology can support that workforce by providing information between visits and helping care teams make better use of the time they have.

How can connected-care technology help between home-care visits?
Passive sensors can help identify changes in routine and activity while no professional caregiver is in the home. Authorized caregivers and family members can review that information and receive notifications when activity patterns change.

Does Livindi require an older adult to wear a device?
Not for passive home monitoring. Livindi offers motion, door, and bed sensors in the home. A Smart Watch is also available for those who want wearable biometric monitoring.

Can caregivers receive alerts automatically?
Yes. Livindi states that caregivers can receive notifications when activity patterns change, and its “Help Me” voice feature can notify the care team when an older adult requests help.

Does connected care replace professional caregivers?
No. Connected-care technology can provide information, alerts, and communication tools, but it does not replace professional judgment, hands-on assistance, companionship, or human care.

The caregiver shortage will not be solved by technology alone. But the right tools can help care teams stay informed between visits, respond more quickly when something changes, and spend more of their limited time on the work only people can do.

That is where connected care can make a difference: not by replacing caregivers, but by helping them care with better information, stronger communication, and more support around the hours they are not in the home.