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NaCCRA Forum: General

Resident satisfaction survey
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Any chance of getting a copy of the survey you developed? I'd be really interested in the questions asked.



Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com


Any chance of getting a copy of the survey you developed? I'd be interested in seeing the questions asked.


Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

Is there any chance of getting a copy of the survey you developed at Lake Forest? I'd be really interested in seeing the questions asked.


Nancy Eddy

nbeddy@gmail.com

As I have mentioned, at Westminster Place in Evanston Illinois they do not give us any comparative data. As I understand it, in most places residents are shown how they compare with other CCRCs across the country. Would any who has data on national norms be willing to share it?

The purpose of satisfaction surveys is for process improvement in the organization. They identify strengths in an organization (high performing departments and employees), and weaknesses (low performing departments and employees). This information is then used to improve the service product of the organization, promote their high performers, provide training where needed, and shift resources where needed in a rational manner. They are standard in industries that depend on the satisfaction of their clients (airline, travel, hotel, medicine, food service, hospitality, education, etc.). These service-oriented industries lose their competitive edge in the market if they do not provide a pleasant, competent experience for their repeat clients.


Doesn't it seem odd that there is such resistance to these surveys in so many CCRCs? Doing a survey is the first step is only the first step. If the information gleaned therein is not acted upon, they are irrelevant, and a waste of time and money.





At Westminster Place in Evanston IL we do the Holleran survey but last year they gave us comparative data for only one of the questions. It seems to me that the survey in meaningless without comparative data. Did you get comparative data at Lake Forest Place?

We live in our 2nd CCRC, with Resident Satisfaction Surveys done at both. I find it quite unusual that your management does NOT want to do them; however, they'd probably cite that the process is costly and not doing them helps keeps resident fees down.


I cannot find my files from the survey done at our CCRC #1 (2012-2015.5), but for some reason I remember the national survey's address for survey returns was Kansas City. I suppose the management felt that asking residents to return the completed survey directly to the outside party was proof that they wouldn't interfere with responses or conveniently "forget" to send some in.


At CCRC #2 (2015.5 to present), a Holleran one done in November 2019. We're now under new ownership (as of July 1), so I don't know the plans of the new owners. I heard mention that our previous non-profit hospital owners did not want a survey done. Who knows, perhaps that was because they knew they'd be selling us off, since their core business is acute care, and our CCRC of approximately 250 residents (all levels) was less than 2% of the hospital system's operations.


I volunteered for a focus group to be conducted by Holleran at LeadingAge last year, a LeadingAge convention which I eventually chose not to attend. Others must have done the same, since the focus group later happened via Zoom. Even though that focus group was NOT about resident satisfaction surveys ---- Holleran was looking at a new product, something that would appeal to prospects. However, I did manage to ask a question about resident satisfaction surveys, so I'll explain it here. To me, I got a disappointing answer, described below.


A Holleran Resident Satisfaction questionnaire has standard questions that one answers with, say, a number 1-5. This provides numerical comparison for the same question nationwide. In other words, how did your CCRC stack up on a particular "degree of agreement" with a national average for that same question? These surveys also permit management to add more customized/tailored questions of aspects of a campus' resident life that may be of special interest to them.... normative national data not needed. Holleran accommodated that request. Also, for both surveys of my experience, a responder had the opportunity to write in their own, personal responses and comments in designated "areas." In my case, as you probably can tell, I like to write. The blank spaces for written comments were not large enough for me, so I typed extra pages, affixing those pages to the questionnaire booklet. In the case of the two different resident surveys I've taken, I never saw a compilation of the "additional written comments," meaning the written comments were not shared with the residents .... only the numerical data was.


In the above-mentioned focus group I asked the Holleran people how the written comments were provided to management --- would a Holleran staffer read them and categorize into subjects, like "Comments about Food" or "Comments about landscaping" or "Comments about Communications," etc. OR -- was each responder's unique comments provided as "Here are Anonymous Resident #1's comments," "Here are Anonymous Resident #2's comments." I was hoping the answer would be the former, where one subject had a list of everyone's comments .... but no.... it was the latter above. To me, this could jeopardize desired anonymity. For example, if resident Jack Doe had a problem with, say, a particular driver not ever being on time and made it known .... then a comment about tardy driver in "Resident #35's survey" might be easily identifiable as Jack. Or, certain word choices could be a big clue .... say Jack continually complains about his parking "slot" when everyone else uses the term parking "space." Or Jack's spouse complains that new move-ins are not given sufficient information --- and that's only mentioned in Resident #62's survey ... a la "oh, that's Janice Doe's pet peeve."


I don't think these surveys are inexpensive, so you're fortunate that your RA has the funds to even consider doing it on your own. If your management resists conducting surveys, would they resist or find fault with the results and not do anything anyway?


Good luck.


We live at a CCRC in Medford, New Jersey. Our administration has done resident surveys in the past but suspended the practice during Covid. As a resident, I have never felt the surveys were really effective. For example: no opportunities for open comments (only multiple choice).

In our community we were able to get to an account on Survey Monkey and designed our own survey. We have done this for 3 years now. There may be someone in your community who has some experience in this area. Just a thought,


Mar_T Ahrens

At Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads in VA, we did a Survey Monkey survey of our residents in 2021 which we wrote and analyzed ourselves. We did have access to Survey Monkey through the administration. We shared the information with the administration with many positive results such as improved WIFI.

Ron Karpick, lungone@msn.com

For the second year, the Resident Advisory Council of Lake Forest Place in Lake Forest, IL, has conducted a detailed survey of many aspects of the services provided to Independent Living residents. The survey covers multiple areas, including the level of satisfaction with the Council's functions, the various committees, the administration, marketing, concierge, and others. It consists of 68 questions and provides an opportunity for those who answer the survey to add comments following each question. In the latest survey, which has just been completed and the results are being tabulated, we got a 68% level of responses and over 500 comments from residents.

As to the Holleran Survey, our administration asked for the Council's input. Based on our survey, we suggested adding seven questions and modifying a couple of their questions. We understand that these have been submitted to Holleran.

Our resident association is considering the idea of contracting with Holleran to perform a resident satisfaction survey (CCRC management does not conduct a satisfaction survey). I'd appreciate feedback on 2 questions:

  1. Does anyone have experience with residents funding a satisfaction survey and if so was if helpful in discussing performance and concerns with management and with the Board?
  2. Can anyone provide feedback on their experience working with Holleran (and in particular would you recommend Holleran for a CCRC resident satisfaction survey)?
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