9 out of 10 Assisted Living Residents Give Their Community a Thumbs Up

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9 out of 10 Assisted Living Residents Give Their Community a Thumbs Up

Published by Senior Housing at seniorhousingnews.com, October 11, 2012
written by Alyssa Gerace

Responsive and caring management and staff at assisted living communities are top drivers for high satisfaction rates among residents and their families toward the communities they reside in, according to the 2011-2012 National Surveys of Customer and Employee Satisfaction in Assisted Living Communities.

When asked as to their overall satisfaction and how they would recommend the community to others as a place to receive care, the overwhelming majority of respondents (91%) and their families (92%) provided a response of either "good" or "excellent," says the National Research Corporation, which conducted the survey. Responsiveness of management and staff, and care or concern by staff are among the list of top reasons why families and residents report satisfaction.

While 96% of residents' families provided positive feedback about the respectfulness of staff, only 72% of residents gave favorable reviews about the appeal of food, with nearly three in ten calling the food "fair" or "poor."

"The results [of the survey] can be used… to modify behaviors, policies, and standards that impact employee and customer satisfaction, and also to direct culture change, the development of workforce training activities, family communication and engagement strategies, and creation of resident programs, to name a few," the National Research Corporation writes.

Employee satisfaction and recommendation for the communities they worked in was lower, ranging between 66% and 72% depending on what they were being asked and what duties they performed. Personal care assistants provided a slightly lower rate of "good" and "excellent" responses compared to more favorable responses from those in non-caregiver positions, while scores from nurses ranked in between the two groups.

Assisted living communities generally have high turnover rates for both residents and employees, the study notes. Out of the nearly 44,000 residents surveyed in more than 1,500 communities across the nation, about a third of residents self-reported they had lived in the community for more than three years, while 37% had been there for one to three years.

More than a quarter of the almost 20,000 employees surveyed (28%) said they had worked for their community for five years or more.