Episode 135: AI in Play: Aging's Leading Edge
58 min
How nurse innovators are using AI, smart homes, robotics, and wearable technology to improve aging in place, strengthen long-term care, and support healthy aging.
By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, and by 2034, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. About three in four adults over 50 want to age in their communities, in their homes, with their family and friends.
That shift brings real challenges. How do you keep older adults safe at home when they face cognitive decline or balance problems? How do you build and sustain community in long-term care facilities, especially when they are short-staffed and money is tight? How do you know which technologies are worth investing in for aging parents, ones that are effective and safe without adding stress?
As we work out which questions to ask and how to answer them, more companies and health care systems are turning to nurses. That makes sense. Nurses are uniquely positioned to lead and innovate in long-term care. Through both personal and professional experience, they sit closest to the gaps in care and the daily challenges. They are also closest to patients, so they know what will work and how. And they are building the technology and designing the solutions that foster human connection and help people of all ages thrive.
In this episode, we meet three nurses building that future. Dr. Cami Peterson-DeVries, VP of Senior Services at St. Francis Health Services of Morris, is bringing robots and smart-room technology to her 14 nursing homes. Roschelle "Shelly" Fritz, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., develops nurse-driven AI and smart homes for aging in place. Shu-Fen Wung, Ph.D., M.S., R.N., A.C.N.P.-B.C., F.A.A.N., studies wearable and radar sensors for fall detection and responsible AI. Together, they show a wide-open, nurse-shaped frontier where technology extends human connection at every touchpoint.
About See You Now Podcast
SEE YOU NOW is a podcast that shines a light on the real people changing the status quo in health: from nurses working in labor and delivery, with infectious diseases, and in hospice; to nurse allies in politics, business and tech. Created in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson and the American Nurses Association.
For more nursing innovation resources from ANA, visit https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/innovation/resources.
Have questions or feedback for the SEE YOU NOW team? Future episode ideas? Contact us at hello@seeyounowpodcast.com.
Resources
The Guests
- Cami Peterson-DeVries, work anniversary profile, St. Francis Health Services of Morris: https://sfhs.org/news/celebrating-cami-peterson-devries-18-year-work-anniversary/
- Shu-Fen Wung faculty bio, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/ourteam/faculty/shu-fen-wung-bio.html
- Roschelle Fritz faculty bio, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis: https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/ourteam/faculty/roschelle-fritz-bio.html
- Healthy Aging in a Digital World initiative, UC Davis: https://bigideas.ucdavis.edu/healthy-aging-digital-world
The Fritz Method and Nurse-in-the-Loop AI
- Fritz RL, Dermody G. "A nurse-driven method for developing AI in 'smart' homes for aging-in-place." Nursing Outlook, 2019: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30551883/
- Same paper, full text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6450732
- Dermody G, Fritz R. "A conceptual framework for clinicians working with AI and health-assistive smart homes." Nursing Inquiry, 2019: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30417510/
- Fritz R, et al. "Nurse-in-the-loop smart home detection of health events." IJNS Advances, 2022: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2022.100081
- Smart-home pain-behavior detection study, JMIR, 2020: https://doaj.org/article/ad95b9ac80a94639b9dbc3b2a211b978
Sensors, Wearables, and AI in Aging
- Wung author profile and publication list (includes 2026 responsible-AI paper): https://sciprofiles.com/profile/725636
- "Wearable Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older Adults," JMIR, 2025: https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e69077
History of Long-Term Care in the US
- KFF, "Long-Term Care in the United States: A Timeline": https://www.kff.org/medicaid/long-term-care-in-the-united-states-a-timeline/
- National Academies, "The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality," Ch. 2: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584647/
- Next Avenue, "How'd We Get Here? The History of Nursing Homes": https://www.nextavenue.org/history-of-nursing-homes/
- American Scientist, "The Evolution of the Nursing Home": https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-evolution-of-the-nursing-home
Demographics and Lifetime Need
- ASPE (HHS), "Lifetime Risk of Needing and Receiving Long-Term Services and Supports": https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/what-lifetime-risk-needing-receiving-long-term-services-supports-0
- Singlecare LTC statistics roundup (pointer to ASPE, KFF, WHO primaries): https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/long-term-care-statistics/
- U.S. Census Bureau, Demographic Turning Points (one in five Americans 65-plus by 2030): https://census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.html
- U.S. Census Bureau, older adults projected to outnumber children by 2034: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/12/by-2030-all-baby-boomers-will-be-age-65-or-older.html
Workforce and the Staffing Rule
- CMS fact sheet, Minimum Staffing Standards final rule, April 2024: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-minimum-staffing-standards-long-term-care-facilities-and-medicaid-0
- Federal Register, 2024 final rule: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/10/2024-08273/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-minimum-staffing-standards-for-long-term-care-facilities-and-medicaid
- Federal Register, 2025 repeal of the staffing standards: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/03/2025-21792/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-repeal-of-minimum-staffing-standards-for-long-term-care-facilities
- HHS press release on the repeal, December 2, 2025: https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-cleanup-federal-nursing-home-minimum-staffing-standards-rule-expands-access-rural-tribal-health-care.html
- ASPE, "Nurse Staffing Estimates in US Nursing Homes," May 2024: https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/8e343af705b07063ad7effcc84ba370a/nurse-staffing-estimates-us-nhs.pdf
- AHA brief challenging the rule (79 percent of facilities would need to add staff): https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2024-10-24-aha-files-brief-challenging-cms-minimum-staffing-rule-nursing-homes
Aging in Place
- AARP, 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey, press release: https://www.aarp.org/press/releases/2024-12-10-new-aarp-report-majority-adults-50-plus-age-place-policies-communities-catch-up.html
- AARP survey overview and technology findings: https://www.aarp.org/home-living/home-community-preferences-survey-2024/
- AARP Public Policy Institute full report: https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/livable-communities/housing/2024-home-community-preferences/
