Romi Gubes is CEO and cofounder of Sensi.AI, the world’s first Agentic Operating System for senior care.
While numbers vary, up to 86% of veterans don’t use their VA health benefits. This is notable because, as a population, veterans live longer than the average citizen, yet carry service-related burdens into old age.
Veterans may experience any combination of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain from decades of service. These conditions may not surface in a clinical appointment. The gap between what a scheduled caregiver observes and what a veteran actually experiences during the other 20 hours of the day is where the risk lives.
More caregiver hours sounds like the answer. But an industry labor shortage and rising costs make that unsustainable. The answer is to smarter coverage of the hours in between.
That’s what virtual care does.
The VA is setting the standard
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are investing in AI infrastructure through their proposed FY27 budget. It allocates $47.8 million, a 10.9% increase over the 2026 budget, for Decision Intelligence and Automation. Much of that allocation is earmarked for scaling AI tools across clinical and benefits delivery. In short, they are investing in administrative and care technologies, so as to provide better service for veterans.
“Now we have more data to share. We provide Sensi to our VA clients for free, and care hours have nearly doubled. The VA has been a major growth area because they value the data we provide for their veterans.”
Home care agencies serving veterans operate in the same ecosystem. They have the advantage of moving faster than a federal budget cycle and the ones already deploying virtual care are proving it. Beth Copeland, director of Griswold Home Care uses Sensi as the standard of care for veterans and has doubled care hours because of the partnership. “Now we have more data to share. We provide Sensi to our VA clients for free, and care hours have nearly doubled. The VA has been a major growth area because they value the data we provide for their veterans.”
A population in transition and under the radar
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects up to 20% of veterans from recent conflicts. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains the signature wound of the post-9/11 era. By 2035, veterans aged 85 and over are expected to increase by 66%. In FY2024, almost half of all VHA-enrolled veterans were already over 65. Veterans aren’t aging like the general population, they are aging with conditions that are continuous, complex, and invisible to a part-time caregiver.
Our own internal Sensi data shows 80% of urgent calls for help go unanswered, 77% of falls occur with no one nearby, and 60% of cardiac-related incidents go unnoticed. For veterans with PTSD or TBI, a missed incident is also a missed pattern. And noticing patterns is what prevents crises.
“What we have done is utilize Sensi to ensure we have that extra level of coverage, when our caregivers are not able to be there.”
Falls alone drive 3 million ER visits annually among older adults and $50 billion in medical costs each year. Prevention is the only fiscally sustainable model.
Yet, how can fall prevention work without 24/7 care? As Amy Petersen-Smith, co-owner, Senior Helpers says, “What we have done is utilize Sensi to ensure we have that extra level of coverage, when our caregivers are not able to be there.”
The dignity gap and why it’s a home care problem
Ninety percent of veterans prefer to age at home. For a population trained in self-sufficiency, independence is expected. That creates a specific challenge. Asking veterans for behavior change: to interact with new technology or consistently check in, all under the guise of keeping them safe adds friction. The responses are almost always the same. Refusal.
“Using Sensi as the standard of care, we moved a veteran from four hours of care per week to 85 hours in a matter of months. Data from Sensi got us in the door with the VA.”
This is what I think of as the dignity gap: the distance between the care a veteran needs. Often shaped by service-related injuries and the extent of the care they will accept to address their often invisible mental, emotional, and physical discomfort. When a veteran refuses to adopt new technology or adopt habits like frequent check-ins, families lose visibility. And, anxious families often fill that void with constant phone calls and worry. The clients who need the most care are often the ones most likely to turn it down. The gap closes when the technology earns trust by being invisible.
Carlos Camacho, owner of Always Best Care of El Paso has successfully advocated for more caregiver hours using Sensi care reports. “Using Sensi as the standard of care, we moved a veteran from four hours of care per week to 85 hours in a matter of months. Data from Sensi got us in the door with the VA.”
What Care Intelligence actually does
Sensi’s Care Intelligence requires no active participation, no button to press, no device to wear, no acknowledgment help is needed. Sensors placed in the home learn each individual’s baseline: sleep rhythms, gait patterns, daily routine.
“Decline is gradual. You can’t see it unless you are looking for it.”
When the cadence shifts: more frequent bathroom visits, sounds of dizziness, the vocal changes that can precede a PTSD episode, the silence that follows a fall, the system surfaces it for care managers and families. As Ed, a former Marine and Sensi user says, “Decline is gradual. You can’t see it unless you are looking for it.”
That’s exactly the problem Sensi, operating in the background, was designed to solve.
What the home care industry owes this population
Veterans have served their country; their home care should not demand a surrender of autonomy in exchange for safety. The technology to bridge this gap exists. Agencies already deploying Sensi for veteran clients prove the model: veterans are receiving more authorized care hours, providers are cultivating stronger relationships with the VA, and families are gaining peace of mind regarding their loved ones’ safety.
The dignity gap is not inevitable; it is the predictable result of an industry applying generic senior-care tools to a population that bears specific physical and psychological scars from military service, then wondering why veterans reject the intrusion.
We can do better. This industry can do better. After a lifetime of service, our veterans deserve the best care.
If you’re interested in learning more about Sensi and how we help veterans age in place, contact us.
FAQs
What is the dignity gap in veteran home care?
The dignity gap is the distance between the care aging veterans need, shaped by PTSD, TBI, and service-related conditions, and the care they are willing to accept. Veterans trained in self-sufficiency frequently refuse intrusive monitoring, leaving them unprotected between caregiver visits and their families without clarity to their needs.
Virtual care intelligence platforms like Sensi use audio-based sensors to learn each veteran’s baseline and surface when something shifts. Operating entirely in the background, the platform provides agencies with continuous data parsed with AI to bring to VA conversations.
The VA’s proposed FY27 budget increases AI infrastructure funding by 10.9%. It’s a signal AI is considered mission-critical care infrastructure. Home care agencies should match that standard: deploying intelligent, ambient technology that monitors veterans between visits and generates data that strengthens VA relationships.
