Nursing Home Staff Networks and COVID-19

Visit Link

An early report issued by the CDC identified staff members working in multiple nursing homes as a likely source of spread of COVID-19. The authors performed the first large-scale analysis of nursing home connections via shared staff and contractors. Using a large-scale analysis of smartphone location data, they found that 49 percent of COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents was attributable to staff movement between facilities. Traditional federal regulatory metrics of nursing home quality were unimportant in predicting outbreaks. The results provide evidence for a policy recommendation of compensating nursing home workers to work at only one home and limit cross-traffic across homes.

Resource Details

  • Population: People Living in Congregate Housing
  • Setting/Context of Implementation: Long-term Care Facility
  • Topics of Practice: Data Collection and Analysis|Organizational Change/ Development|Policy Change/ Development
  • Outcomes of Interest: Reduction of Health Disparities
  • Level of Evidence: Novel
  • Tools or Materials Included in Resource: No
  • Social Determinants of Health: Healthcare Access and Quality
  • Outside of US: No