Rising resident acuity and staffing capabilities remain important factors shaping senior living operations in 2026, and some feel the industry is unprepared for the incoming demand cycle.
In a survey of over 500 senior living professionals by technology company Sage, 81% of leaders reported rising resident acuity needs, while only 12% said staffing conditions were “consistently sufficient” in 2026. When acuity rises, it can change operational priorities and absorb more caregiving hours required to meet resident needs.
The survey tracked 138 executive leadership staff and 372 community leaders and caregivers.
A total of 43.6% of respondents said the senior living industry is unprepared to handle the influx of older adults entering senior living based on demographic changes nationwide, and 83.9% of respondents said community operations are now more complex than they were two years ago. Acuity also pressures daily operations by causing greater burnout among frontline caregiving staff.
Executives cited that they can spot employee burnout based on greater turnover (64%) and more frequent call-offs (51%). Fifty-six percent of respondents said they end their shifts mentally exhausted “most or every day,” and 12% said they had enough staff to provide care needs appropriately for residents. Sixty-three percent of frontline staff in memory care reported exhaustion after working a shift, higher than 61.8% in skilled nursing, 54.4% in assisted living and 46.2% in independent living settings, according to the report.
The report’s authors called for operators to use care and demand data to match labor needs more accurately, allocating hours as needed in communities so spending can be improved and burnout decreased.
Over 25% of respondents said resident acuity had “increased significantly” over the last two years, while 55.4% said acuity needs within communities increased moderately. The average response time to medical alerts also varies, with alerts waiting more than 20 minutes being most common during the 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. shift change, based on data from 323 communities spanning 1.7 million alerts. A higher rate of move-outs was also associated with longer response times. Based on an analysis of 130 communities over a 90-day period, providers that responded in less than seven minutes had a 90-day move-out rate of 2.6, compared to communities with a 12-minute or greater response time and a move-out rate of 5.
While operators have spent time organizing their technology platforms and systems, 44.1% of respondents said switching between systems was the most frustrating aspect of using digital platforms, while 28.8% cited documentation taking too long and 28.5% noted poor communication between systems as the most frustrating element of in-community technology. Perceptions of AI appear to be positive, with 34.9% of executives saying they were “cautiously open” regarding the potential for AI, 28% saying they were “very open” to AI tools, 17.7% remaining neutral and 19.4% reporting they were either somewhat skeptical or very resistant to new AI tools.
It is common in senior living to hear from operators that they want to keep their staff available to spend time with residents and build connections that can improve care. It is no surprise then that 39% of executives said an additional hour would be used for resident engagement if they could get one back in a shift. That was followed by 30.6% using the extra hour for direct resident care and 14.8% using it for staffing and training purposes.
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