California is the best state for senior care staffing, while Oklahoma is the worst, according to an April 12 Seniorly report.
Seniorly, a website that helps older adults find living facilities, used six metrics to determine how well states were equipped to handle senior care staffing. Metrics included the median ratio of healthcare providers eligible to work per occupied nursing home bed, nursing home occupancy rates, share of nursing facilities reporting staff shortages, median nursing staff turnover in nursing homes, projected adequacy of the primary care workforce, and home health aid supply. A Z-score distribution was used to scale each metric relative to the mean across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Here are the 10 best and worst states for senior care, along with their scores:
Best
California: 0.855
Alaska: 0.833
District of Columbia: 0.786
North Dakota: 0.734
Minnesota: 0.723
Connecticut: 0.627
New York: 0.524
Massachusetts: 0.441
Delaware: 0.391
Pennsylvania: 0.361
Worst
Oklahoma: -1.007
Missouri: -0.629
Georgia: -0.592
Tennessee: -0.576
North Carolina: -0.433
Louisiana: -0.403
Texas: -0.387
Alabama: -0.382
Utah: -0.340
Montana: -0.316