The U.S. Department of Human and Health Services (HHS) wants to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to support caregivers and is launching a $2 million competition. The HHS’s Administration for Community Living (ACL) noted that growing shortages in the direct care workforce are forcing family caregivers to step in more often.

Through its ‘Caregiver Artificial Intelligence Prize Competition,’ HHS is inviting entrepreneurs and scientists to create tools that support professional and family caregivers, making caregiving simpler, smarter, and more humane. The competition will seek tools that enhance care delivery, reduce burden, and improve outcomes for those who depend on caregivers.

“America’s caregivers carry our nation’s most vulnerable on their shoulders, and they do it with a strength and devotion that rarely gets the recognition it deserves. With the Caregiver AI Challenge, we are advancing the goals of the Make America Healthy Again Strategy Report by mobilizing innovation to lighten caregivers’ load and ensure every family has the support they need to care for the people they love,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The AI Prize Competition will fund and recognize innovators developing tools that:

• Support caregivers — including family, friends, and the direct care workforce — in providing safe, person-centered care at home.
• Support employers by improving efficiency, scheduling, and training in the caregiving workforce.
  The competition is expected to take place in three different phrases: design, implementation and scaling.

“Through this prize competition, we aim to identify technologies that empower caregivers and expand access to high-quality care at home,” said Mary Lazare, Acting Administration for Community Living Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.