Ask most older people where they want to receive care and the answer is the same: in their own home. Policy is moving in that direction too. CQC’s latest State of Care report found that community services will need significant investment in capacity and capability to deliver the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which moves care out of hospitals and closer to home. The workforce is the hardest part. Homecare vacancy rates were just over 10% in March 2025, more than double the rate in care homes. International recruitment, which recently eased those pressures, has fallen sharply since the care worker visa route closed in July 2025.

Pete Dowds is co-founder and CEO of Elder, a live-in care platform that matches families with carers. He started Elder after his family struggled to find suitable care for his grandmother. In this session he looks at what care at home could look like over the next decade. He will cover the growth of live-in care as an alternative to residential care, the role of technology in matching, monitoring and supporting carers and families, and how providers can build a sustainable workforce as Fair Pay Agreement negotiations approach. He will also discuss what this shift means for care home operators, commissioners and families, and how home-based and residential models can work alongside each other.