Survey Questionnaires

NDWS is conducting annual surveys of community clinicians, and nursing home, assisted living, and home care staff. The staff surveys also have an administrator survey to learn more about how each organization operates. 

Surveys are designed to help researchers understand the composition and training of this large and diverse workforce, including physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, direct care workers, and other health care professionals that provide care to older adults living with dementia.  

Staff surveys ask questions across a variety of domains, including demographics; education, training, and experience; employment status; dementia care knowledge, attitudes and practices; and worker outcomes.

Administrator surveys include questions related to facility characteristics, resident characteristics, staffing, training, and care practices.

Survey data will be valuable as a standalone data, and can also be combined with linked data sources such as beneficiary-level Medicare claims or county-level health care resources to connect workforce factors with care and outcomes of patients cared for by respondents to maximize the NDWS scientific potential.

Survey Timing

The first wave of annual surveys entered the field in August 2024, with final data anticipated by July 1, 2025. Please note: The Wave 1 survey data release won't contain data from the Home Care Staff survey.

Surveys will be deployed annually and updated data released each year. Current funding supports annual surveys through 2028. 

Wave 1 Questionnaires

The below PDFs are for reference only. If you have been invited to complete a survey, please visit the Participant Center for more information.

Download the Survey Source Crosswalk to see all seven surveys at a glance and how they compare. The crosswalk also includes sources for questions adapted from other surveys. If no source is listed, the question was developed by the NDWS survey team.

View a list of masked variables, opens in a new window to see which questions will be masked or modified in the public use files (PUFs) to safeguard respondent privacy.

Watch videos explaining how the survey questionnaires were developed, and the sample frame/data collection process for Wave 1. Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. 

Community Clinician Survey
Nursing Home Staff Survey
Assisted Living Staff Survey
Home Care Staff Survey

Surveys are designed to:

  • Be nationally representative of the dementia care workforce in each setting.
  • Be completed by multiple individuals within the same care setting, generating insights into how the workforce collaborates.
  • Follow how the workforce changes over time by tracking entrances and exits.
  • Be patient- and partner-centered. Questionnaires were developed through focus groups, cognitive interviews, and expert reviews with individuals representing target occupations and settings.
  • Be updated annually to include new survey items from researchers and stakeholder groups.