Artificial Intelligence in Long-Term Care

Juliana Cuozzo, AARP Public Policy Institute

Edem Hado, AARP Public Policy Institute

Published April 21, 2026

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into long-term care (LTC) systems presents an innovative approach to addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by an aging population that is increasingly reliant on family caregivers. AI offers the potential to enhance LTC delivery across the continuum of care, whether by enabling care at home through smart home systems or strengthening support for family caregivers. Although AI offers promise for improving LTC systems, these new tools require thorough study and evaluation before widespread adoption. Such an evaluation needs to identify risks and develop appropriate governance—including guardrails—to ensure AI integration does not negatively affect older adult well-being. Read the full report.

Key Takeaways

Early AI applications in long-term care are concentrated in five areas: assessments, diagnosis and treatment support, family caregiver assistance, monitoring, and care navigation. Current tools are largely in pilot stages, focused on streamlining administrative tasks, supporting clinical decision-making, and managing complex information.
AI holds promise for reducing strain on family caregivers and the direct care workforce, but only if tools are intentionally designed to supplement — not redistribute or intensify — existing care responsibilities.
Existing AI tools for long-term care carry distinct and consequential risks, including errors, algorithmic bias, privacy vulnerabilities, and overreliance. Left unaddressed, these risks can compromise care quality, and widen disparities in access.
AI effectiveness in long-term care is constrained by significant data gaps. Older adults, people with disabilities, and racially and ethnically diverse communities remain underrepresented in the datasets used to train these tools.
Human oversight is not optional. This is especially critical for agentic and self-correcting AI systems, which can autonomously execute tasks and compound errors at a scale that is difficult to detect and reverse.

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Suggested Citation:
Cuozzo, Juliana, and Edem Hado. Early Applications and Key Considerations for Adopting Artificial Intelligence in Long-Term Care. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute, April 20, 2026. https://doi.org/10.26419/ppi.00404.001

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Full Report