Sage Report Finds Rising Acuity, Workflow Strain in Senior Living
October 4, 2026
NEW YORK — Senior living operators are facing rising care complexity, fragmented technology workflows and pressure points in daily care delivery, according to a new report from Sage, a senior living technology company.
The 2026 State of Care report combines survey responses from 510 senior living professionals with operational data from communities using Sage’s platform. The survey included 138 executive leaders and 372 community leaders and caregivers.
Among executives surveyed, 81% said residents’ care needs have increased, while 84% said running a community has become more complex over the past two years. Nearly half, 44%, described the industry as somewhat or very unprepared for the expected growth of the aging population.
The report also pointed to a gap between executive visibility and frontline experience. According to Sage, only 19% of executives said they can identify issues across communities in real time. Meanwhile, 56% of caregivers and community leaders said they end their shifts mentally exhausted most or every day, and 12% said they always have enough team members on shift to provide the level of care residents deserve.
Sage’s operational data identified morning shift change as one pressure point. The company said residents with alerts during the morning shift-change window were 60% more likely to wait more than 20 minutes for a response.
Technology fragmentation was another finding. Forty-four percent of community teams cited switching between systems as a frustration, compared with 12% who cited too many alerts. The report said caregivers may need to move between nurse call systems, fall management and EHR systems to understand, respond to and document care.
The report also found openness to artificial intelligence among care teams, with 63% saying they are very or cautiously open to AI supporting their work. However, only 32% said their current technology generally helps them.
Sage said seven in 10 community leaders and caregivers would prioritize resident engagement or direct care if they had an extra hour in their day.
The report also included preliminary operational findings on response times and move-outs. In an analysis of roughly 130 communities, Sage said communities with an average response time under seven minutes were half as likely to see new residents move out within the first 90 days compared with communities with an average response time of 12 minutes or more. Sage estimated the difference at about $23 in cost savings per resident per month, based on an estimated $11,500 cost per early move-out.
Sage noted that survey findings are self-reported and that its operational analyses are observational and not designed to establish causation. Individual analyses in the report used different populations, time periods and methodologies.
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