An email survey conducted by McKnight’s Senior Living sheds light on the COVID-19 experience in 300 senior living communities.
More than 300 representatives of independent living, assisted living, memory care, and life plan communities shared their COVID-19 experiences through an email survey conducted April 1-3 by McKnight’s Senior Living.
The survey yielded 336 usable responses from administrators, owners, operators, health and wellness leaders, frontline caregivers, and others. McKnight’s shared the results in 3 separate articles on April 7, April 8, and April 9. Key findings included:
Number of COVID-19 cases: 77% of survey respondents said no cases or presumed cases of COVID-19 had been detected among residents or workers in their communities. Less than half (44%) said workers are calling in sick or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
PPE: Three-quarters of respondents reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), and 64% said their communities are using homemade or improvised PPE, or reusing PPE.
Covering extra shifts: More than half (53%) of respondents said that they are using overtime pay to cover extra shifts. Communities are also:
- Increasing the hours of part-time staff members (35%).
- Offering bonus pay or gift cards (33%).
- Using more agency nurses and/or aides (18%).
- Awarding extra paid time off (8%).
- Using retired nurses and/or aides (3%).
Other perks: Some communities are:
- Providing food on all shifts.
- Offering stipends for childcare.
- Implementing flexible scheduling.
- Giving workers the ability to access their pay as soon as they’ve earned it.
- Letting staff members use payroll deduction to buy supplies from the community ‘s vendors.
- Scheduling daily fun activities and giveaways for team members.
Overall mood: Finally, more than half of respondents (56%) reported that the overall mood in their building is “coping day to day.” A similar percentage (54%) said they were “a little shaky, but confident overall.”
Read the full articles published on April 7, April 8, and April 9.