Florida has a growing problem when it comes to looking after its older residents, and a new national report makes for alarming reading: the Sunshine State ranks last in America for the availability of home health and personal care workers.
The 2026 America’s Health Rankings Senior Report, published by the United Health Foundation, places Florida 50th among the states, with just 17 home health and personal care aides for every 1,000 residents aged 65 and older. The national average is 65, meaning Florida has barely a quarter of the national supply relative to its older population.
For Alex Moran, CEO of caregiving technology company Roost, the figures point to a problem that cannot be solved simply by recruiting more people and asking existing caregivers to work harder.
“Florida has one of the oldest populations in America and the fewest home care workers to support it,” says Moran. “We will not close that gap by asking a shrinking workforce to work harder.”
He believes three changes are essential: better pay and career progression to attract and retain caregivers; technology that reduces the administrative burden of paperwork, scheduling and travel between appointments; and faster routes for qualified workers to enter the profession, supported by reimbursement rates that allow providers to pay them properly.
“Too many hours are lost to paperwork, poor scheduling and long drives between clients, and technology can give much of that time back to care,” he says.
But Moran believes increasing the number of available caregivers is only part of the answer. The quality and consistency of the relationship between caregiver and client can be just as important.
He argues that the industry needs to move beyond simply filling shifts and focus on finding the right person for each individual.
“Providing a caregiver fills a shift. Finding the right caregiver changes a life,” he says.
A successful match, he explains, involves more than professional qualifications. Personality, shared interests, individual routines and the ability to build a relationship all matter. Equally important is continuity: having the same caregiver return regularly, rather than a succession of unfamiliar faces.
“When the same caregiver walks through the door every week, they notice when something changes, a missed meal, a new fall risk, a shift in mood, and act before it becomes a trip to the hospital.”
At Roost, the company uses artificial intelligence to help match caregivers with clients according to their needs, preferences and personalities, while its scheduling technology aims to maintain those established relationships. (Learn more at www.roost.us)
Moran believes this combination of human understanding and technology could help make home care more efficient while improving the experience for older people and their families.
“Older Floridians want to stay in their own homes,” he says. “We have to build the workforce that makes that possible.”
With Florida facing one of the country’s most pronounced home care workforce shortages, the question is no longer simply how to find more caregivers, but how to make the entire system work better for the people who depend on it.
