Visiting the old man as part of home healthcare, a female doctor examines the man's arm about the complaint
(Credit: RainStar / Getty Images)

Care levels at senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities remained constant during the pandemic, even as family visitation levels plummeted, according to a new analysis.

Accushield, which makes healthcare-focused sign-in kiosks, analyzed 127 million visitor sign-ins at its kiosks in more 6,000 senior living, skilled nursing and other healthcare facilities in the United States and Canada during the pandemic. 

The data showed that although the number of family visits fell dramatically — by as much as 85% in the first five months of the pandemic — visits from home health, home care and hospice providers remained steady.

“We knew that the pandemic would solidify the importance of a robust third-party care providers’ sign-in and screening process,” Accushield Co-founder and Chief Sales Officer Charles Mann said. “We were pleasantly surprised and happy to learn that third-party residents’ care visits did not suffer during the pandemic.”

December 2021 marked the first time in 21 months that Accushield kiosks recorded pre-COVID family visitation rates comparable with pre-pandemic rates. The company said that family visits began a “slow and steady” increase last spring and continue to rise as the overall number of vaccinated individuals rose.

A study published in December in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, noted that nursing home residents who had no contact with family members or friends during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to die than were counterparts who had regular contact with loved ones.

According to a LeadingAge legislation tracker, several states have passed legislation mandating visitation at assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities, including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.