HaroldUrman
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Mar 10, 2009, 8:52 AM
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Resident Satisfaction with Assisted Living
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Results from the Vital Research National Database
By Harold Urman, Ph.D.
Many retirement communities include or provide access (on-site or off-site) to Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing care as part of the continuum of living. A few months ago Vital Research described the results of our research on resident satisfaction with Independent Living, which showed that residents are very satisfied with many aspects of daily living. Now, we want to discuss the findings of our national database on resident satisfaction with Assisting Living.
Before we discuss consumer satisfaction with Assisted Living, it’s important to first understand what is Assisted Living. According to the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA), “an assisted living residence is a special combination of housing, personalized supportive services and health care designed to meet the needs – both scheduled and unscheduled – of those who need help with activities of daily living (ADL).” ADL’s include assistance with Dressing, Eating, Toileting, to name a few.
Today more than a million Americans live in an estimated 20,000 assisted living residences. According to the Vital Research national database, a typical assisted living resident is female (76%), approximately 86 years old, and has lived in an assisted living facility for about four years (3.8 year).
Residents appear to be very satisfied with many Quality of Life elements in Assisted Living. Findings are based on the Vital Research national database of Assisted Living Residents’ satisfaction with quality of life. The database includes survey results for more than 5,000 assisted living residents.
The Vital Research Assisted Living database includes responses to 50 quality of life questions. The questions are organized into nine domains and a measure of overall satisfaction with quality of life.
From the analyses of the national database, Vital Research found that satisfaction scores from five of the nine domains were over 90%, with Safety, Environment, and Clinical Care each having the highest satisfaction scores of 93%. Scores for the remaining four domains of Help & Assistance, Dining, Companionship, and Activities were above 80%. Overall, 89% of residents were satisfied with their quality of life in Assisted Living.
When asked whether residents would recommend the retirement community to a friend, 95% reported that they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely”.
From 2004 to 2006, there was a slight increase in the overall satisfaction score, but for the last two years there has been a slight downturn, with 2008 having the lowest overall satisfaction score (87%) in the last five years.
Are all residents equally satisfied? Although satisfaction scores tend to be relatively high across all domains, there are some key resident characteristics that indicate that some residents are more satisfied than others. Some of the more interesting differences are:
. Women (82%) are more satisfied with activities than men (77%). The reasons for this appear to be related to men feeling that they are unable to maintain their hobbies and feeling that the Assisted Living facility does not have activities they like.
. Residents who are under 80 years old, tend to be less satisfied across all domains compared to residents who are 80 years and older.
. Residents who have resided Assisted Living for less than a year (87%) or six years to more (88%) were most satisfied with dining compared to residents who have been in Assisted Living between one to five years.
. Residents who reside west of the Mississippi are slightly more satisfied with Activities, Autonomy (Independence), and Dining. Residents who reside east of the Mississippi are most satisfied with their environment.
Overall satisfaction in Assisted Living is most strongly related to Communication, Activities and Dining services.
Though there are areas for improvement, Assisted Living residents appear to be very satisfied with their quality of life.
Harold N. Urman, Ph.D. is an educational psychologist and co-founder of Vital Research, a consulting firm specializing in research and evaluation. Established in 1982 and based in Los Angeles, Vital Research is a national research and consulting firm with expertise in senior living services satisfaction measurement.
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(This post was edited by HaroldUrman on Apr 8, 2009, 11:30 AM)
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