Evaluating the Internal Health of Senior Communities

For members of the elderly housing industry, important questions concern how people decide to become residents of a particular senior community, how they function after they move in, and how they feel about their experience in the community. Scientists can design and conduct research to answer these questions. In an elderly housing facility, management must maintain control of the operation of the facility but residents must feel they are in control of their lives. Since these feelings of control are important to residents' satisfaction, management needs to help residents maintain the kinds of control they need. An evaluation procedure measuring internal health of senior communities has been developed by the Foundation for Aging Research of Clearwater, Florida. This evaluation determines if residents are dissatisfied, what training staff needs, priorities for improvements, impact of current programs and policies, and effectiveness of various communities under the same management. The evaluation assesses attitudes of residents, staff, management, and board members. The same questions are asked of all groups. Large differences of opinion suggest problem areas. Past studies have shown that residents' satisfaction is most dependent on their perception of staff caring about them as people. Staff, on the other hand, believe residents' satisfaction to be most dependent on interesting activities. Residents felt more in control of their lives than staff perceived them to be. This type of research can be useful and addresses specific questions for which owners and managers need answers. (ABL)