Staffing more challenging for nursing homes in socioeconomically deprived areas, study finds

Nursing homes in neighborhoods experiencing socioeconomic deprivation could find it challenging to sufficiently staff their facilities, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The cross-sectional study used 2018 daily payroll-based staffing records and address data for 12,609 nursing homes in the United States linked with resident assessment data. The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and nursing home staffing in the United States.

“Significant staffing disparities were observed within facilities located in severely deprived neighborhoods. Targeted interventions, including workforce recruitment and retention efforts, may be needed to improve staffing levels for nursing homes in deprived neighborhoods,” wrote researchers Jason R. Falvey DPT, PhD; Erinn M. Hade, PhD; Steven Friedman, MS, and colleagues.