A survey of service coordinators working with older adults in publicly funded housing identified unique challenges they have faced in adapting to COVID-19. The survey, conducted by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), found that disruptions to professional care may affect older residents’ physical and mental health. Respondents identified new problems for residents with transportation, acquisition of groceries and medication, communication with service providers, and social life.
JCHS and the American Association of Service Coordinators disseminated an online survey from June to July 2020 to 3,500 service coordinators across the country. The survey received 1,175 responses. In communities with older adults, service coordinators offer programs to increase resident self-sufficiency, physical security, social connections, and long-term community-based supportive services. Most respondents (69%) work for one property, and on average they each support 163 residents. Their properties rely on various subsidies: 25% were public housing, 38% received Section 202 funding, and 42% accepted Housing Choice Voucher Program Section 8 waivers. Roughly 79% of the residents with whom these service coordinators work are at least 62 years old.
As of July 2020, approximately one-third of respondents were already aware of at least one resident in their property who had tested positive for COVID-19, and rates were highest in public housing properties. Since COVID-19 testing was conducted offsite for 77% of these properties, service coordinators had to work with local clinics to facilitate resident transportation to testing sites.
Access to personal care assistance was limited by the pandemic. Respondents reported that before March about half of the residents with whom they worked regularly required in-person assistance to accomplish household tasks like laundry or housekeeping, and 32% needed personal care assistance to meet daily needs like dressing. These services were disrupted when access to the properties had to be limited, and many service coordinators reported having to fill gaps in those services. Forty-six percent of respondents said they needed to spend more time coordinating with residents’ family and informal supports, and 34% said they were spending more time coordinating with formal healthcare providers.
Service coordinators estimated that 40% of residents in their properties did not have the food, medicine, or household supplies they needed to isolate for a week. Service coordinators accordingly spent much more time procuring and distributing food, medicine, and household goods to residents than before the pandemic. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they were spending more time helping residents purchase food, in part because many residents required assistance with online orders. Only 38% of residents had both Internet access and a computer or tablet.
Communication strategies also had to adapt. While service coordinators had relied on spontaneous face-to-face communication with residents before the pandemic, many coordinators had to shift to telephone calls for wellness checks and written notices like newsletters delivered to residents’ doors.
Social distancing affected older residents’ opportunities for social interaction more generally. Seventy-four percent of service coordinators noticed more loneliness or anxiety among residents. They increased referrals to professional mental health providers and crisis lines. In response, many service coordinators planned new social services. Coordinators reported planning activities that allowed asynchronous movement through the property (e.g., scavenger hunts), activities that could be structured around social distancing (e.g., bingo or music performances in hallway spaces), and activities to add novelty and variety to the environment (e.g., door-decorating contests).
Service coordinators reported numerous outstanding needs for their residents. They cited a need for more counseling, therapy, and support from mental health experts; help meeting residents’ need for social support; and partnerships to address resident needs for food, PPE, or technology.
The full report can be found at: https://bit.ly/3qDPvEa