July 15, 2025 • 16 mins
The aging landscape is transforming dramatically, and HomeWatch Caregivers stands at the forefront of this evolution with 45 years of expertise and innovation. Todd Houghton, President and CEO, reveals how the organization has grown beyond traditional companion and personal care services to meet seniors exactly where they are in their care journey.
Recognizing that 92% of seniors wish to age at home while only 22% can afford daily care visits, HomeWatch has developed a technology ecosystem that extends support beyond caregiver visits. Their Wellness Hub transforms ordinary TVs into powerful care tools, providing medication reminders and secure video connections that combat isolation. Meanwhile, strategically placed sensors monitor for falls and environmental changes, creating an invisible safety net that's already prevented countless emergencies. These innovations allow families to stay connected regardless of distance, as one touching story revealed when a grandmother finally saw her grandchildren after four years apart through the HomeWatch technology.
The company's commitment to excellence extends beyond technology to comprehensive training programs. Their 27-hour certified dementia care program equips caregivers with specialized skills to support those with cognitive impairments while maintaining dignity and familiarity at home. Additionally, their AI-powered care planning system has revealed that most clients actually need more support than initial assessments suggest, enabling more informed family discussions about care needs. With 10,000 Americans turning 65 daily and HomeWatch experiencing triple the industry's average growth rate, their approach of blending compassionate care with innovative technology positions them perfectly to meet the surging demand for quality home care. Ready to discover how these innovations might support your loved ones? Connect with HomeWatch Caregivers today to explore solutions tailored to your family's unique needs.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Care Across America.
My name is Valerie Van Boevenand I am going to introduce
someone very special today.
We are so lucky to be heretoday with Todd Houghton, who
brings 20 years of executiveleadership in the home care and
franchise industries.
Todd home care better thananybody.
(00:30):
You've been doing this a longtime, like all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He was previously at Brightstar Care, comfort Keepers
, sodexo, camp Bow Wow andGoddard Systems.
Bs in Economic Business fromIllinois State University and in
2022, he was appointedpresident and CEO of HomeWatch
Caregivers International, withover 400 franchise locations.
(00:57):
So we have a couple of thingswe want to talk about today, but
why don't we get started withthis?
Talk to us a little bit aboutHomeWatch Caregiver's history
and growth.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, so well.
Thank you for having me,valerie, I appreciate it.
We started in 1980 in Denver,colorado, by a gentleman named
Paul Sowers Saw a need to,especially at that time, have
resources to care for grandma orgrandpa that was staying with
the kids, and then he realizedthe need for home care and
(01:30):
started franchising.
We've grown over the years.
In 2017, we were acquired byAuthority Brands, a private
equity company, which allowedthem to navigate the business.
They had not been in for a fewyears and then brought me in to
really recognize the fact thatwe were approaching our 45th
year rather quickly.
And home care has evolvedtremendously, not just in the
(01:53):
last 10 years, but even in thelast three years, and the need
for it to be a more integralpart of the healthcare continuum
is critical, and so we continueto grow every day.
We've been experiencing a lotof growth, with new locations
across the US.
As a matter of fact, we havebrought in about 45 new offices
(02:15):
in the last two and a half years, which is great growth, and
then really seeing our dailycensus go up year over year by
almost three times what theindustry average has been, so
we're excited about that as well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yes, that's great and it's only going to continue to
get more and more needed andyou're going to I know
everyone's going to continue tosee growth in this industry
sector.
45 years, that is a very longtime and a great history of
longevity and connectivity withall these communities that you
guys serve, so that is amazing.
(02:49):
So talk to us about some of thethings that are happening now
innovative programs and servicesand recent initiatives, because
those really interest me and Iknow they will folks that listen
to.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, as I mentioned, like home care has changed
dramatically and the need toevolve and be innovative also
has escalated.
About two and a half years agowe started by evaluating all of
our service lines and makingsure that we have the right
service line to meet individualswhere they are in their care
journey.
In home care, historically it'sbeen two lines of services it's
(03:25):
been the companion care and thepersonal care Good but not
great.
And so we wanted to make surewe evolved and can again meet
people where they are.
So we developed a few newservice lines within our Home
Watch, caregivers, total CareSolutions.
We added what we call activecare.
Active care is really atech-forward service line but it
allows people to get into careearlier, may not need that
(03:47):
caregiver in the house all thetime.
They can be connected andengaged and fight off social
isolation and loneliness throughthe technology.
And then we evolved fromcompanion care into wellness
care, because really somebodythat's at that stage in their
needs it's about keeping themwell and keeping them active, so
we focus on that.
Personal care is really what itis, so we didn't really change
(04:10):
much there other than enhancingthe services that are offered
underneath the personal careumbrella.
And then we focused onspecialized care.
So really around an escalateddementia certification program
that we have we can talk aboutthat a little bit but also
focusing on chronic diseasestates and making sure that we
have people well-trained to carefor people that are living with
(04:30):
chronic or congestive heartfailure or living with diabetes
or anything like that.
So we're really focused on thateducation piece.
And then we have a moreintensified hospital-to-home
recovery type program for peoplethat want to get out of the
hospital, need to get out of thehospital and recover at home.
And then, lastly, we added inour nursing services line so we
can move more to a skilledaspect of things as well.
(04:53):
All of that being said, we feltvery confident that we were
meeting people where they are intheir care journey with the
right service lines.
But we also wanted to figureout how do we enhance their
connections and their engagementwhen a caregiver is not in the
home.
So we started our HomeWatchConnect technology vertical,
which currently consists of ourwellness hub, consists of our
(05:19):
wellness hub.
Our wellness hub connects tothe TV and it can give
medication reminders ornutrition reminders or even just
appointment reminders to remindsomebody that they might have a
lunch engagement with theirdaughter, but it also allows
them to connect virtually witheither providers or with their
family members or other lovedones or friends in a safe,
secure fashion that you don'tget through other video
(05:40):
platforms like a tablet orsomething like that.
It's nice.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It hooks up to their TV and at this point most of our
TVs are pretty big and on awall.
Often the tech portion of thisto me it sounds people who
aren't quite ready for full-timecare or maybe care at all.
This is a great step forward infor you guys to be in the home
(06:04):
and to be helpful to that family.
Before the full-time Home caretypically evolves from ease them
into it to as their disease ortheir age progresses.
They may need full-time care atsome point, but this is a great
way to step in and be theirpartner in care and wellness
(06:24):
until they need someone toactually come to the house, or
even then it might just be acouple of days a week for
grocery shopping ortransportation or something.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I think that one of the staggering numbers 91, 92%
of the people want to age athome.
78% can't afford a daily visit.
So how do we make sure they'reconnected and getting some sort
of virtual assistance when thecaregiver can't be there in a
more affordable fashion?
So it allows for that and it issomething that everybody's very
familiar with the TV right.
(06:55):
And one of the great thingsabout the Wellness Hub is its
capabilities to give a view ofthe whole room as well.
If the care influencer iscalling mom, they can see the
room and see if mom's been couchplanted for a long time or the
kitchen looks not clean orthings like that.
So you can identify additionalopportunities to get more care
(07:16):
in the home, to provide betterquality, provide a safer
environment for them too.
So it's very excellent.
In that way they're not sittingright in front of a computer
screen like we are today, wherewe can't really see what's
behind us.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And, honestly, for those long distance caregivers,
this is pretty amazing.
Wouldn't want to be able todial up mom and talk to her.
And if they're not great with acell phone, some are actually
most.
A lot of our seniors are verytech savvy these days, but if
they're not used to using thatcell phone or they can't hear it
, this is a great way to be ableto check in anytime during the
(07:49):
day and just say, hey, how'severything going?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You see a lot less ears and a lot less noses when
you have it up on the TV screen.
So I like to say it's just funwith that.
But and then the secondtechnology that we have in the
home are sensors too.
So sensors are doing falldetection, ambient temperature
detection and some sounds aswell, and I think the ambient
temperature one is a big onethat people don't think about.
(08:16):
And we've had a lot of saygreat story is great.
It's probably not the rightword, but where we've actually
been able to intervene early ina case where someone might have
not had proper AC, especially inthe summer when it's hot and
they could be living withhypertension and that's just
going to cause not good outcomes.
So we've been able to catchthings early and get people the
(08:36):
care that they need.
So I think the technologyaspect is going to continue to
grow.
Most people don't realize thatthey need it yet, but they do to
stay safe at home, and we'llcontinue to see it grow over the
next year two, three, fouryears very rapidly.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Oh, absolutely.
This is definitely a great anda cost-effective way for people
to get just that extra touch,that extra check-in that we know
seniors can use.
Oftentimes, tons of seniors canuse that, especially if they
live alone.
So let's talk about thedementia training a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yes, so we have our certified dementia training
program.
It's developed by a dementiadoctor, along with our clinical
care and quality people on ourteam, and so we just launched it
at the beginning of the year.
It's about a 27-hour programthat individuals go through to
really learn what it's like tocare for somebody living with
(09:33):
dementia, and then we can go outand live on that brand promise,
if you will, that we're goingto send in a dementia certified
specialist to take care of momor dad who are living with
dementia, but keeping them athome in that surrounding that
they're familiar with and givingthem the quality of life that
they deserve.
So we're excited about it.
This is the year of adoption toget all of our offices trained,
(09:53):
and it takes a little while toget all those caregivers trained
, but we but working towardsthat, and so all of our offices
that have been through theprogram have their seal on their
website, but they can't havetheir seal until they have
completed their training andgetting through that, so we're
excited about it.
It's a differentiator from whatothers might be out there and,
as we know, more and more peopleare suffering with dementia or
(10:15):
Alzheimer's, and even at anearlier age, which is sad, but
we want to make sure we'reproactive in providing the right
training.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, that is a well.
I'm sorry to interrupt, butthat is a great differentiator
because we often will it's.
You can only slice home care somany ways in a marketing
perspective, but when youactually provide the training
for dementia care, you don'tjust say you're dementia care
experts, you are dementia careexperts, your caregivers are
(10:41):
dementia care experts.
That is so helpful to so manybecause that is a differentiator
that I think is much needed inevery community.
Someone who's really had theopportunity to experience and
train on the reality of takingcare of someone with dementia
and sometimes it's a reallyeasygoing person and sometimes
(11:02):
it's really not so having thattraining is really impressive.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
So that's great.
Thank you, we're excited aboutit.
I think we're also looking atexpanding that towards the end
of the year to family caregiversand making it accessible to
family caregivers, becausethere's just not enough
resources out there for thatfamily caregiver right now and
we wanna make sure thateverybody has training and can
keep people safe.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
And what about any otherinnovative programs or services
coming up?
Is that covered most of them?
I know there's been a lotactually.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
There's been a lot.
I think we've got one.
We continue to focus on thetech the HomeWatch, Connect
service lines and understandingwhat other technologies out
there and so we are bringing AIin.
I think that's our other bigone.
We're using AI in a lot ofdifferent ways.
One of the unique ways thatwe're doing it is in the care
plan development aspect ofthings.
I think home care has not had alot of great tools to develop
(11:58):
that care plan.
It really goes on the person'sintake processes and the
questions that they ask and thenwhat their gut feels that the
person needs.
Bringing AI really makes itperson-centered and helps make
sure that the right level ofcare is being provided and since
we've been doing the pilot andnow rolling out, it's been very
eye-opening to see that mostpeople need more care than what
(12:21):
has been recommended on theintake process.
So what it does is allow us tohave those deeper conversations
with family.
We might start here for mom,but know that, based on all the
assessments that we've done, shereally needs to be here.
So we're going to have tofigure out how to get there and
who's going to fill the gaps ofcare and all of those things to
keep her home safe and secure.
So really, I think it's amazingwhat AI is going to be able to
(12:45):
continue to do for us and helpus provide the best care
possible.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I totally agree with that.
There is definitely a place inmedicine and in care for AI and
truly, when you put all of theassessment data into an AI
platform and I'm sure I don'tknow what you guys have
developed, but I'm sure it'samazing.
But even if you go as aconsumer, if you go to chat GPT
and you put in all your stuffand all your labs, of course
(13:10):
doctors hate it, but it can giveyou a better picture of you
know or something new that youjust don't really think about
how can you possibly think ofall the different things that
could potentially go wrong orcould potentially go right and
have better questions to askthat family and better questions
to ask that client?
It really is a nice addition.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
It truly is, and I think even when you go one step
deeper, it can help really fromdeveloping the right nutrition
plan for somebody and all thethings around that to prevent
any escalation in disease andessentially have more
preventable measures in place.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Absolutely yeah.
Diets, grocery shopping listsyou name it recipescipes you can
get anything you need from that, so that is great.
So talk to me about youroutlook on the industry ahead.
We've touched on that a littlebit, but I see that it's not
going to go away.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
It's not going to go away right.
We still have 10,000 peopleturning 65 every day.
I said earlier, 91, 92% want toage at home.
There's definitely not a demandissue on the aging side of it,
and I think if we look at evenpeople that are younger living
with some sort of physical orcognitive impairment, it used to
(14:24):
be that they would have to golive in community-based living
or institutional type of living,and home care is filling that
gap now, where people can keeppeople at home and not have to
send them out for care.
So we'll continue to see thatgrow as people become more
educated on what home care cando for them.
We've been for us at HomeWatch.
We have had three times theindustry average growth year
(14:46):
over year for the last threeyears.
We continue to project that forthe next five to 10 years as
well, just based on aging,population and stats of
population.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and the more I think folks embrace
tech making it easy for theclient, easy for the family to
implement or get help withimplementing, I think we're all
going to see that tech helpsreduce some of those costs,
especially in the beginning,like we talked about.
But still is a connection pointand a touch point and received
(15:18):
especially by the client, Happyto see those familiar faces on
that TV.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
We have stories every day usually, but there was one
just over the 4th of July anolder lady who finally got to
see her grandkids and she hadn'tseen them in four years but
thanks to technology, becauseshe didn't know how to use the
cell phone, but using ourtechnology to be able to see
them and see them in theirsettings, right in their yard,
and things like that.
And so just when you get thosestories, it's just fulfilling
(15:47):
that you're like oh, we aremaking a change in lives and
that's what we want to do.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
That's wonderful.
Thank you so much, todd, forspending a little bit of time
with us updating us on HomeWatchcaregivers.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Past 45 years have been great and I know the next
45 will be amazing Absolutely.
I appreciate your time, Valerie.
Have a good day.
Welcome to Care Across America.
My name is Valerie Van Boevenand I am going to introduce
someone very special today.
We are so lucky to be heretoday with Todd Houghton, who
brings 20 years of executiveleadership in the home care and
franchise industries.
Todd home care better thananybody.
(00:30):
You've been doing this a longtime, like all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He was previously at Brightstar Care, comfort Keepers
, sodexo, camp Bow Wow andGoddard Systems.
Bs in Economic Business fromIllinois State University and in
2022, he was appointedpresident and CEO of HomeWatch
Caregivers International, withover 400 franchise locations.
(00:57):
So we have a couple of thingswe want to talk about today, but
why don't we get started withthis?
Talk to us a little bit aboutHomeWatch Caregiver's history
and growth.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, so well.
Thank you for having me,valerie, I appreciate it.
We started in 1980 in Denver,colorado, by a gentleman named
Paul Sowers Saw a need to,especially at that time, have
resources to care for grandma orgrandpa that was staying with
the kids, and then he realizedthe need for home care and
(01:30):
started franchising.
We've grown over the years.
In 2017, we were acquired byAuthority Brands, a private
equity company, which allowedthem to navigate the business.
They had not been in for a fewyears and then brought me in to
really recognize the fact thatwe were approaching our 45th
year rather quickly.
And home care has evolvedtremendously, not just in the
(01:53):
last 10 years, but even in thelast three years, and the need
for it to be a more integralpart of the healthcare continuum
is critical, and so we continueto grow every day.
We've been experiencing a lotof growth, with new locations
across the US.
As a matter of fact, we havebrought in about 45 new offices
(02:15):
in the last two and a half years, which is great growth, and
then really seeing our dailycensus go up year over year by
almost three times what theindustry average has been, so
we're excited about that as well.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yes, that's great and it's only going to continue to
get more and more needed andyou're going to I know
everyone's going to continue tosee growth in this industry
sector.
45 years, that is a very longtime and a great history of
longevity and connectivity withall these communities that you
guys serve, so that is amazing.
(02:49):
So talk to us about some of thethings that are happening now
innovative programs and servicesand recent initiatives, because
those really interest me and Iknow they will folks that listen
to.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, as I mentioned, like home care has changed
dramatically and the need toevolve and be innovative also
has escalated.
About two and a half years agowe started by evaluating all of
our service lines and makingsure that we have the right
service line to meet individualswhere they are in their care
journey.
In home care, historically it'sbeen two lines of services it's
(03:25):
been the companion care and thepersonal care Good but not
great.
And so we wanted to make surewe evolved and can again meet
people where they are.
So we developed a few newservice lines within our Home
Watch, caregivers, total CareSolutions.
We added what we call activecare.
Active care is really atech-forward service line but it
allows people to get into careearlier, may not need that
(03:47):
caregiver in the house all thetime.
They can be connected andengaged and fight off social
isolation and loneliness throughthe technology.
And then we evolved fromcompanion care into wellness
care, because really somebodythat's at that stage in their
needs it's about keeping themwell and keeping them active, so
we focus on that.
Personal care is really what itis, so we didn't really change
(04:10):
much there other than enhancingthe services that are offered
underneath the personal careumbrella.
And then we focused onspecialized care.
So really around an escalateddementia certification program
that we have we can talk aboutthat a little bit but also
focusing on chronic diseasestates and making sure that we
have people well-trained to carefor people that are living with
(04:30):
chronic or congestive heartfailure or living with diabetes
or anything like that.
So we're really focused on thateducation piece.
And then we have a moreintensified hospital-to-home
recovery type program for peoplethat want to get out of the
hospital, need to get out of thehospital and recover at home.
And then, lastly, we added inour nursing services line so we
can move more to a skilledaspect of things as well.
(04:53):
All of that being said, we feltvery confident that we were
meeting people where they are intheir care journey with the
right service lines.
But we also wanted to figureout how do we enhance their
connections and their engagementwhen a caregiver is not in the
home.
So we started our HomeWatchConnect technology vertical,
which currently consists of ourwellness hub, consists of our
(05:19):
wellness hub.
Our wellness hub connects tothe TV and it can give
medication reminders ornutrition reminders or even just
appointment reminders to remindsomebody that they might have a
lunch engagement with theirdaughter, but it also allows
them to connect virtually witheither providers or with their
family members or other lovedones or friends in a safe,
secure fashion that you don'tget through other video
(05:40):
platforms like a tablet orsomething like that.
It's nice.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It hooks up to their TV and at this point most of our
TVs are pretty big and on awall.
Often the tech portion of thisto me it sounds people who
aren't quite ready for full-timecare or maybe care at all.
This is a great step forward infor you guys to be in the home
(06:04):
and to be helpful to that family.
Before the full-time Home caretypically evolves from ease them
into it to as their disease ortheir age progresses.
They may need full-time care atsome point, but this is a great
way to step in and be theirpartner in care and wellness
(06:24):
until they need someone toactually come to the house, or
even then it might just be acouple of days a week for
grocery shopping ortransportation or something.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I think that one of the staggering numbers 91, 92%
of the people want to age athome.
78% can't afford a daily visit.
So how do we make sure they'reconnected and getting some sort
of virtual assistance when thecaregiver can't be there in a
more affordable fashion?
So it allows for that and it issomething that everybody's very
familiar with the TV right.
(06:55):
And one of the great thingsabout the Wellness Hub is its
capabilities to give a view ofthe whole room as well.
If the care influencer iscalling mom, they can see the
room and see if mom's been couchplanted for a long time or the
kitchen looks not clean orthings like that.
So you can identify additionalopportunities to get more care
(07:16):
in the home, to provide betterquality, provide a safer
environment for them too.
So it's very excellent.
In that way they're not sittingright in front of a computer
screen like we are today, wherewe can't really see what's
behind us.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And, honestly, for those long distance caregivers,
this is pretty amazing.
Wouldn't want to be able todial up mom and talk to her.
And if they're not great with acell phone, some are actually
most.
A lot of our seniors are verytech savvy these days, but if
they're not used to using thatcell phone or they can't hear it
, this is a great way to be ableto check in anytime during the
(07:49):
day and just say, hey, how'severything going?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You see a lot less ears and a lot less noses when
you have it up on the TV screen.
So I like to say it's just funwith that.
But and then the secondtechnology that we have in the
home are sensors too.
So sensors are doing falldetection, ambient temperature
detection and some sounds aswell, and I think the ambient
temperature one is a big onethat people don't think about.
(08:16):
And we've had a lot of saygreat story is great.
It's probably not the rightword, but where we've actually
been able to intervene early ina case where someone might have
not had proper AC, especially inthe summer when it's hot and
they could be living withhypertension and that's just
going to cause not good outcomes.
So we've been able to catchthings early and get people the
(08:36):
care that they need.
So I think the technologyaspect is going to continue to
grow.
Most people don't realize thatthey need it yet, but they do to
stay safe at home, and we'llcontinue to see it grow over the
next year two, three, fouryears very rapidly.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Oh, absolutely.
This is definitely a great anda cost-effective way for people
to get just that extra touch,that extra check-in that we know
seniors can use.
Oftentimes, tons of seniors canuse that, especially if they
live alone.
So let's talk about thedementia training a little bit.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yes, so we have our certified dementia training
program.
It's developed by a dementiadoctor, along with our clinical
care and quality people on ourteam, and so we just launched it
at the beginning of the year.
It's about a 27-hour programthat individuals go through to
really learn what it's like tocare for somebody living with
(09:33):
dementia, and then we can go outand live on that brand promise,
if you will, that we're goingto send in a dementia certified
specialist to take care of momor dad who are living with
dementia, but keeping them athome in that surrounding that
they're familiar with and givingthem the quality of life that
they deserve.
So we're excited about it.
This is the year of adoption toget all of our offices trained,
(09:53):
and it takes a little while toget all those caregivers trained
, but we but working towardsthat, and so all of our offices
that have been through theprogram have their seal on their
website, but they can't havetheir seal until they have
completed their training andgetting through that, so we're
excited about it.
It's a differentiator from whatothers might be out there and,
as we know, more and more peopleare suffering with dementia or
(10:15):
Alzheimer's, and even at anearlier age, which is sad, but
we want to make sure we'reproactive in providing the right
training.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, that is a well.
I'm sorry to interrupt, butthat is a great differentiator
because we often will it's.
You can only slice home care somany ways in a marketing
perspective, but when youactually provide the training
for dementia care, you don'tjust say you're dementia care
experts, you are dementia careexperts, your caregivers are
(10:41):
dementia care experts.
That is so helpful to so manybecause that is a differentiator
that I think is much needed inevery community.
Someone who's really had theopportunity to experience and
train on the reality of takingcare of someone with dementia
and sometimes it's a reallyeasygoing person and sometimes
(11:02):
it's really not so having thattraining is really impressive.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
So that's great.
Thank you, we're excited aboutit.
I think we're also looking atexpanding that towards the end
of the year to family caregiversand making it accessible to
family caregivers, becausethere's just not enough
resources out there for thatfamily caregiver right now and
we wanna make sure thateverybody has training and can
keep people safe.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
And what about any otherinnovative programs or services
coming up?
Is that covered most of them?
I know there's been a lotactually.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
There's been a lot.
I think we've got one.
We continue to focus on thetech the HomeWatch, Connect
service lines and understandingwhat other technologies out
there and so we are bringing AIin.
I think that's our other bigone.
We're using AI in a lot ofdifferent ways.
One of the unique ways thatwe're doing it is in the care
plan development aspect ofthings.
I think home care has not had alot of great tools to develop
(11:58):
that care plan.
It really goes on the person'sintake processes and the
questions that they ask and thenwhat their gut feels that the
person needs.
Bringing AI really makes itperson-centered and helps make
sure that the right level ofcare is being provided and since
we've been doing the pilot andnow rolling out, it's been very
eye-opening to see that mostpeople need more care than what
(12:21):
has been recommended on theintake process.
So what it does is allow us tohave those deeper conversations
with family.
We might start here for mom,but know that, based on all the
assessments that we've done, shereally needs to be here.
So we're going to have tofigure out how to get there and
who's going to fill the gaps ofcare and all of those things to
keep her home safe and secure.
So really, I think it's amazingwhat AI is going to be able to
(12:45):
continue to do for us and helpus provide the best care
possible.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I totally agree with that.
There is definitely a place inmedicine and in care for AI and
truly, when you put all of theassessment data into an AI
platform and I'm sure I don'tknow what you guys have
developed, but I'm sure it'samazing.
But even if you go as aconsumer, if you go to chat GPT
and you put in all your stuffand all your labs, of course
(13:10):
doctors hate it, but it can giveyou a better picture of you
know or something new that youjust don't really think about
how can you possibly think ofall the different things that
could potentially go wrong orcould potentially go right and
have better questions to askthat family and better questions
to ask that client?
It really is a nice addition.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
It truly is, and I think even when you go one step
deeper, it can help really fromdeveloping the right nutrition
plan for somebody and all thethings around that to prevent
any escalation in disease andessentially have more
preventable measures in place.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Absolutely yeah.
Diets, grocery shopping listsyou name it recipescipes you can
get anything you need from that, so that is great.
So talk to me about youroutlook on the industry ahead.
We've touched on that a littlebit, but I see that it's not
going to go away.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
It's not going to go away right.
We still have 10,000 peopleturning 65 every day.
I said earlier, 91, 92% want toage at home.
There's definitely not a demandissue on the aging side of it,
and I think if we look at evenpeople that are younger living
with some sort of physical orcognitive impairment, it used to
(14:24):
be that they would have to golive in community-based living
or institutional type of living,and home care is filling that
gap now, where people can keeppeople at home and not have to
send them out for care.
So we'll continue to see thatgrow as people become more
educated on what home care cando for them.
We've been for us at HomeWatch.
We have had three times theindustry average growth year
(14:46):
over year for the last threeyears.
We continue to project that forthe next five to 10 years as
well, just based on aging,population and stats of
population.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and the more I think folks embrace
tech making it easy for theclient, easy for the family to
implement or get help withimplementing, I think we're all
going to see that tech helpsreduce some of those costs,
especially in the beginning,like we talked about.
But still is a connection pointand a touch point and received
(15:18):
especially by the client, Happyto see those familiar faces on
that TV.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
We have stories every day usually, but there was one
just over the 4th of July anolder lady who finally got to
see her grandkids and she hadn'tseen them in four years but
thanks to technology, becauseshe didn't know how to use the
cell phone, but using ourtechnology to be able to see
them and see them in theirsettings, right in their yard,
and things like that.
And so just when you get thosestories, it's just fulfilling
(15:47):
that you're like oh, we aremaking a change in lives and
that's what we want to do.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
That's wonderful.
Thank you so much, todd, forspending a little bit of time
with us updating us on HomeWatchcaregivers.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Past 45 years have been great and I know the next
45 will be amazing Absolutely.
I appreciate your time, Valerie.
Have a good day.
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