Medical and Mental Health Services in US Assisted Living Settings During COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected long-term care settings, staff, residents, and residents’ families across the US; related reports and recommendations highlight the confusion around where assisted living (AL) belongs within the context of “long-term care.” Although much attention has been paid to skilled nursing facilities in the context of COVID-19, AL and other residential care settings have rarely been singled out in media and empirical discourse. This study describes perceptions of medical and mental health care provisions within US AL communities in the COVID-19 context.