Eldercare with Robots? Filling the Human Gap
SUBSTACK LIVE! Keeping It REAL Caregiving + The AI Optimist: WE'RE DISHING ON: what might our futures look like as technology impacts the aging and care fields? What about RIGHT NOW!!??
Hello KIRC fam~
If you are a family caregiver, you may sometimes feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, right? Better yet, the physical weight - literally - of the individual you are caring for. That weight is on your arms, shoulders, back, knees, as well as the more nuanced ‘weight’ that falls on your heart.
At the time of my mother’s death, she was but a frail 89 pounds. Light as a feather - pretty much skin pulled over a little skeleton. She was still mentally sharp as a tack, but her aged body was - for lack of a better word - DONE.
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Ironically, it was my mother’s frailty and my physical strength (from years of lifting weights and working out) that allowed me to care for her as long as I did. I had the physical ability to lift her from her bed, hold her while transferring, provide support for showering and toileting, and sadly - even collecting her from the floor the one or two times she somehow slipped out of her recliner chair. She called for help sounding defeated. Not physically hurt, but rather, emotionally depleted as she sat crumpled on the floor, unable to get up on her own. Those were tough moments.
It was traumatic for my mother. Traumatic for me. It was traumatic letting her go. I miss her everyday. There are moments even now - five years on, that I feel as if I’m having a P.T.S.D. attack. Or I’ll have a nightmare in which I’ve left her at an appointment - stranded - forgetting to pick her up.
What I’ve learned is that there is a very real emotional trauma that remains long after the actual caregiving ends.
Caring for miss Nellie took a lot out of me. I wanted to give my mother the absolute best that I could - in all ways - safe housing, healthy food, meaningful interactions, being shown respect, maintaining good grooming, and the ability to KNOW that the person taking care of her LOVED her and had her best interest at heart at all times. So yeah, it was exhausting, but I have ZERO regrets for giving it my all, and that brings solace.
*Poll Responses - For those of you who have indicated ‘the idea scares me’ - then please do join us! Let’s dive into this so we can all try to learn and explore as much as possible…
Who Will Care for Me?
None of us is getting any younger. That thought ripples through my head almost daily. Unlike Miss Nellie, who had me to care for her, I don’t have children. Many of you don’t either. I’m increasingly wondering, who will care for me? I don’t have a daughter who will be willing to be the advocate, the pharmacist, the emotional support mechanism, and the strong-bodied individual to physically help me. How many of you are in this same situation? If this is you, then I hope you’ll join me for the next Keeping It REAL Caregiving Substack Live event!
Eldercare with Robots? Filling the Human Gap
I’d like to invite you to join me, and fellow Substacker Declan Dunn (The AI Optimist) for what will be an interesting, lively, and thought-provoking SUBSTACK LIVE - Eldercare with Robots? Filling the Human Gap
When: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Time: 12pm Pacific | 1PM Mountain | 2pm Central | 3PM Eastern
Where: Substack Live
*Note - I’ll be attempting my first stab at hosting our session on Streamyard and sending it here to Substack with the goal of sharing some video clips - crossing fingers!
Who is Declan Dunn and how/why is KIRC teaming up for this event?
Declan Dunn hosts The AI Optimist, where across 100+ episodes he looks for the honest version of AI. Forget hype and the doom, how do you - real people - actually use it, or not, and why?
His work keeps circling the question: what technology holds for us, and what it can only imitate. Memory. Presence. The feeling of being known, recognized.
Which makes a robot in the room less a question about robots than about us. What we’d gladly hand off, and what we’d lose if we did.
Our back-story
You might be wondering - what does Keeping It REAL Caregiving have to do with the AI revolution we are experiencing right now and The AI Optimist.
I met Declan several years ago while living and working in Northern California. His work and career history is impressive. Technology, AI, communication, human interaction - and how it all intersects - this is his field of expertise. In other words - he knows his stuff!
I recently attended a conference that focused on nonprofit leadership and how various AI tools might be incorporated to assist (not take over) in achieving mission goals. It was fascinating.
So whether you love it, hate it, fear it, embrace it, or believe it is the beginning of the end for all humanity… AI and the societal and business changes it is creating are HERE. I believe it is better to learn and understand technology that is reshaping our lives and world, than to hide from it. That doesn’t mean you have to use it - but understanding how it is impacting all of us… well, I think that’s pretty darn important.
Will Robots Care for Me?
Now, I return to my burning question: Who will care for me? I can’t help but think of ALL the physical ways I helped my mother. ALL the tasks I completed. ALL the moments when if she didn’t have me … what would she have done?
As I came off the recent conference, then started reading and watching more information about the use of robots and AI, I thought to myself…
‘By the time I’m of the age where I might need help, why WOULDN’T I consider a robot to serve that purpose? If they are as advanced as they are NOW, what might the future hold?’
Substack Live
And there you have it. The impetus for the upcoming Substack Live! This should be a fun session and I hope you’ll join us.
Keeping It REAL Caregiving and The AI Optimist are going to touch on social and companion robots, concepts surrounding service and capacity robots, what AI companies are doing in the NOW involving human data and aging, dementia-focused robots - and all of this sprinkled with ‘lived experience’ as both I and Declan have been in the roles of family caregiving.
So again - I hope you’ll join us - me and fellow Substacker Declan Dunn (The AI Optimist) for our SUBSTACK LIVE - Eldercare with Robots? Filling the Human Gap
When: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Time: 12pm Pacific | 1PM Mountain | 2pm Central | 3PM Eastern
Where: Substack Live
Would be great to hear from some of you before our event… what are you thinking about this topic? Take our poll and we can dive into some of these ideas.
Until next time~
Julia
Great article, Julia 💕I am hoping to join or at least hear the recording if I can’t join. Sounds fascinating!
I have been aware of this and I have such mixed thoughts. But when I think about how poor the care can be I wonder if robots might not be the answer. We don't seem to be able to fix people, healthcare workers, or healthcare.