Sixty-two percent of family caregivers view home care as a long-term or permanent solution to helping a loved one age in place.
The finding comes from A Place for Mom’s 2026 Home Care and Family Caregiving report, which suggested that families are more likely to increase or alter home care hours than bring a loved one to a senior living facility upon changing health needs, according to Martin Hernandez, general manager of family sales at A Place for Mom.
Home-based care services are likely to grow and stabilize as families commit to such care for the long-term, Hernandez told Home Health Care News.
“The report revealed to us that families are thinking more proactively about aging in place, and it follows our conversations with our expert advisors,” Hernandez said.
New York City-based A Place for Mom operates an online platform that connects caregivers and families with aging care, including home care services and senior living communities.
The company evaluated proprietary survey data from 708 family caregivers with experience with nonmedical in-home care. Respondents included people actively seeking care, those who had hired a caregiver and those who had discontinued nonmedical home care within the past year.
Among respondents who had used home care for more than a year, 72% said it was easy to adjust schedules, services or caregivers over time. By comparison, 81% of respondents who discontinued home care said they experienced scheduling disruptions.
The survey found that, after engaging a professional caregiver, family members shift from hands-on tasks to roles as “care coordinators,” managing appointments, transportation and emotional support. The level of involvement remains the same after a family member hired a caregiver, as individuals still reporting spending around nine to 13 hours a week coordinating care.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that bringing in home care means the family can step away,” Hernandez said. “In reality, the family caregiver actually stays very involved. Their role shifts, but what that shift does is it moves that caregiver from being the person doing every hands-on task, to being more of the coordinator, advocate and decision-maker — and when that happens, there is a better space for connection.”
Cost emerged as a large barrier to home care, with 45% of respondents citing expenses as the top reason for discontinuing home care services. The study also found that most families required an adjustment period to manage the scale of needed services and the price tag, with many initially contracting a caregiver for numerous services before scaling back to essential needs, such as bathing or mobility.
Despite the cost barrier, 85% of long-term users described home care as “good or very good value,” with 93% recommending it to others. Additionally, 69% of current users stated that home care reduced their daily stress, thereby improving their relationships with their loved ones.
A Place for Mom’s survey findings point to lasting opportunities for home-based care providers, Hernandez said.
“We are interacting with 20 million families a year,” Hernandez said. “What really stood out to me about this home care report is that families are not thinking about home care as a short-term fix…they’re increasingly thinking about home care as part of a longer-term plan to help a loved one stay at home. That’s something we can build on.”