New York – September 24, 2026 -- Eighty-one percent of senior living executives say resident acuity has increased over the past two years, according to a new report from Sage, an integrated Care Intelligence Platform for senior living and skilled nursing. The findings, unveiled at Sage's caregiving summit Sage Shift, draw on a survey of 510 senior living executives, community leaders and caregivers conducted between July 9 and August 31, 2026, alongside operational data from communities running Sage's platform.
Margins improve even as complexity climbs across communities
Fifty-eight percent of operators report improving operating margins over the past two years, yet 84% say running a community has become more complex in the same period. Forty-four percent describe the sector as somewhat or very unprepared for the coming surge in the aging population, and only 19% of executives say they can identify operational issues across communities in real time.Morning shift-change creates a measurable response bottleneck
Sage's operational data shows residents who trigger alerts during the morning shift-change window are 60% more likely to wait more than 20 minutes for a response than residents who alert at other times. Fragmentation, not alert volume, is the top technology complaint: 44% of community teams cite switching between systems as frustrating, versus just 12% who cite too many alerts.Caregivers are open to AI but say current tools fall short
Sixty-three percent of care teams say they are very or cautiously open to AI supporting their work, while only 32% say their current technology generally helps. Seven in ten community leaders and caregivers say they would redirect an extra hour in their day toward resident engagement or direct care.Executives and caregivers diverge sharply on what burnout looks like
Executives point to organizational symptoms — 64% cite rising turnover and 51% cite increased call-offs as evidence of burnout. Caregivers describe it in personal terms: 56% say they end their shift mentally exhausted most or every day, and only 12% say they always have enough team members on shift to deliver the level of care residents deserve.Faster response times correlate with lower early move-out rates
A preliminary Sage analysis across roughly 130 communities found that those averaging response times under seven minutes were half as likely to see new residents move out within the first 90 days, compared with communities averaging 12 minutes or more. At an estimated cost of $11,500 per early move-out, that gap translates to roughly $23 in savings per resident per month."Care teams already know which parts of the day are most challenging and where their time is spent," said Raj Mehra, CEO and co-founder of Sage. "What they have not had is the opportunity to show their leaders those gaps and make the case for change."