The Necessary Initiatives to Achieve Customer Satisfaction in Long-Term Care Services - Essay Example

Consumer Satisfaction in Long Term Care: State Initiatives in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities INTRODUCTION “By 2020, the number of elderly Americans needing long-term residential care is expected to double from 7 million to 14 million.” (http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/06/1101asstliving.html, para 3) The aging population of the United States results into an intensive need for a long-term care at present and more in the future. Moreover, studies prove that the aging America is yet live longer than expected. (http://www.longtermcareliving.com/planning_ahead/assisted/ assisted1.htm, para 1 & Wilson, 2000) This demand for all kinds of long-term care services is further augmented by the aging Baby Boomers who were makes up the majority of the aging population in America. In their retirement years, this group who once have headed the companies or travelled the globe will need assistance as they grow older with regards to their daily needs. (http://www.helpguide.org/elder/assisted_living_facilities.htm, para 1) Childless elders who do not expect anybody to watch over them and assist them when they grow older will make up the larger proportion of the elderly who will soon avail the services offered by long-term care services. Since one-fifth of the Baby Boomers are childless, they are most likely to make the majority of the clients of long-term care services in the future who has the tendency to live alone. Childless elders like the Baby Boomers are additional challenges for the long-term care system such that it will be necessary for them to develop effective methods to identify and target frail elders who live alone, especially those who are low-income minorities in order to assure these elders who lack informal support to receive adequate services. (Choi, et al, 1998) The longer life expectancy brought about by the advances in medical science, greater access to health care, improved nutrition, and better living conditions provides room for long-term care services to become the fastest growing service institution nowadays. Seniors aging 85 years old and over are the fastest-growing sectors of the society. (Wilson, 2000) In the next 20 years, 65-year olds and older are expected to grow by fifty percent in the United States. “In California alone, there will be about 2.6 million more seniors in 20 years. This will give the state approximately 6.3 million retirees, far out-pacing the national average. In addition, the life expectancy age of females has increased from 71.7 years to 79.1 years and males from 65.6 years to 73.1 years.” Therefore, the demand for more healthcare related services such as the long-term care services taking care of the elderly is also increased. Longer life expectancy would mean more of the Americans will be utilizing these services for a longer period of time as well. (http://www.calregistry.com/housing/alfs.htm, para ) Another factor that resulted from the different scientific advancements that led to longer life expectancy is an increases survival rates for those who were born with serious disabilities and others who have been permanently disabled later in their lives. Acquiring these diseases would require them assistance with their daily activities in order for them to continue life. Their inability to perform these common tasks such as bathing, dressing, preparing meals, and taking medications demands for a need to have somebody to attend to them most of their times. Some of whom who need assistantship are those who had diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes or arthritis. These diseases prevent them from performing even the most common tasks therefore they would resort to finally availing the services offered by the different long-term care institutions. (Wilson, 2000) Any medical and non-medical care to people who have chronic illness or disability can be identified as a long-term care. Its purpose is to help individuals meet their health and personal needs. Some of the daily life activities that are supported by the service is dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. However, long-term care does not necessarily mean being confined in a particular area. Long-term care can be provided at home, in the community, in assisted living or in nursing homes. It is important to remember that you may need long-term care at any age. (http://www.medicare.gov/LongTermCare/Static/Home.asp, para 1) Long-term care conditions are commonly distinguished from acute-care conditions. The former has an assumption of stability regarding his or her condition. While in those that needs acute-care condition is assumed to recover after a certain period of time that he had been under short-term care service. It is expected in the latter that after recovery, he might already be able to perform his daily tasks unlike in a long-time care setting when only the possibility of the situation getting worse may happen. (Abrahams, et al, 1992) Long-term care services that are offered by the nursing homes and assisted-living facilities face the challenges of providing these elders both competent medical care as well as a favorable home environment for them. (Keenan, 1999) Chronic diseases, disability and aging are the most crucial challenges that the society faces. Since Americans have been accustomed to their culture of living independently, these situations had brought them conflicts between their values of independence and dependence in the long run. Growing old and acquiring diseases that disabled them to do the things they had been used to deprive them of an assured safety and security they had been familiar with. The elderly, who are the main clients of the long-term services, could not avoid questioning about the assurance of quality care and the determinacy of access to such services. As a result, nursing homes and assisted living facilities were developed that provides an alternative for housing and caring of these frail elders, as well as the disabled. (Wilson, 2000) Americans are not used to depending on each other’s assistance most particularly with the simplest task that each does on a daily basis. Part of the United States’ culture is living independently from the moment they learned how to crawl. Thus, the idea of aging and acquiring a disease is deemed as a nightmare for every American. Being reliant to other people is something that upsets them in the first place since it means losing their ability to live independently. On the other hand, adult children and government regulators are concerned with the safety of the elderly. Their interests of protecting them from an unfavorable outcome contradict this culture and limit the elderly choice of whether they would avail of such services or not. Although the latter prefers more freedom and assumes more risks. However, chronic diseases do not give them as much choice as they have than that of aging. Their physical and mental inabilities to perform their daily tasks that are brought about by these diseases prevent them from opting to avoid long-term care services. At this point, their families – the spouse and the children or any close relative – decide for them. (Wilson, 2000) But even if the elders are incapable of deciding for themselves, the family members are as well after the assurance of quality care that their elderly would be getting from any long-term care services. The need to satisfy the needs of the primary consumer – the elders, and the secondary consumer – the family should be given as much attention necessary. However, there are yet other factors affecting the elders in opting to stay under the long-term care services. Some choose to stay in the nursing homes to escape the loneliness of being left behind by a loved one. There are also elders who still have their families yet not able to look after them and attend to their needs such their responsibilities in the workplace and the community prevents them to. Objectives of the Study The general objective of the study is to identify the necessary initiatives to achieve customer satisfaction in long-term care services. In order to achieve this objective, specific objectives were set for this study to supply the necessary information vital for the analysis of the literature. The specific objectives for the study are the following: To be able to define consumer satisfaction in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. To be able to identify the government initiatives in meeting the needs of the consumers in the nursing and assisted living facilities. To be ably to identify the ideal long-term care service facility for the primary (elders) and the secondary (spouse or family members) consumers. To be able to find out the different methods in measuring client/consumer satisfaction in the long-term care service. To be able to find out the advantages of assessing client/consumer satisfaction in the long-term care service. Hypotheses of the Study The various long-term care services cater to a specific consumer according to its needs. Each long-term care facility has its own specific philosophical policies that agree to the needs of the client. The facilities are segmented depending on the services they offer as well as the physical and mental conditions of the consumer. Therefore, the consumer’s needs determine the appropriate facility that he needs in the long-term care service. The study also hypothesizes that there are several measures in which consumer satisfaction of the long-term care residents that are applicable in every facility catering to a specific group of individuals who need these specific health care. These measures also identify the credibility and the appropriateness of a certain facility with the need of a potential resident. Significance of the Study Majority of long-term care consumers are elderly. They have been through the vicissitudes of life and the last thing they want to happen is to be miserable. Independence is a dominant culture in the United States and this has rooted deeply in their systems. But growing old threatens their independence because old age is associated with physical, and for those who are unlucky enough, psychological weakness. Their families are always there to watch over them as they weaken though they may not be able to attend to them all the time due to their own responsibilities. This situation leaves the elders to resort to avail of long-term care services that the community is offering them. However, choosing the appropriate long-term care facility that is appropriate for him is one of the ways to draw him away for further miseries and frustration, as well as regret in the last days of his life. The results of the study would help the elderly to identify the suitable long-term care facility that would bring him satisfaction before he even bid goodbye to his precious life. Moreover, the results of the study would as well serve as an aid in the elders’ families, who are the indirect consumers of long-term care. Furthermore, the study would as well encourage further research that would identify the best measure in choosing the appropriate long-term facility for an individual who needs these kinds of services. List of references: ______. 2006. “More and More Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes Providing Alzheimer's Care, Some with Additional Costs, According to MetLife Mature Market Institute Study.” Business Wire. Abrahams, R., et al. 1992. “Care for Frail Elders: Developing Community Solutions.” Auburn House. Westport, CT.. “Assisted Living Facilities For Seniors in California.” http://www.calregistry.com/housing/alfs.htm. “Assisted Living Facilities for Seniors.” http://www.helpguide.org/elder/assisted_living_facilities.htm.. Batavia, A. 2002. “Consumer Direction, Consumer Choice and the Future of Long-Term Care.” Journal of Disability Policy Studies. Volume: 13: 2. Castle, et al, 2004. “Use of Resident Satisfaction Surveys in New Jersey Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.” The Journal of Applied Gerontology, Vol. 23: 2. The Southern Gerontological Society. http://jag.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/23/2/156 Choi, N. et al, 1998. “Long-Term Care and Ethnicity.” Auburn House. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Collopy, B. et al. 1991. “New Directions in Nursing Home Ethics.” The Hastings Center Report. Volume 21:2. Hastings Center. Cummings, S. 2002. “Predictors of Psychological Well-Being among Assisted-Living Residents.” Health and Social Work. Volume 27: 4. National Association of Social Workers. Duffy, A. & Ketchand, A. 1998. “Examining the Role of Service Quality in Overall Service Satisfaction.” Journal of Managerial Issues. Volume 10: 2. Pittsburg State University – Department of Economics. Ebersole, P. & Hess, P. 1998. “Toward Healthy Aging: Human Needs and Nursing Response.” Mosby. St. Louis, MO. Hovey, W. 2000. “The Worst of Both Worlds: Nursing Home Regulation in the United States.” Policy Studies Review. Volume 17: 4. Policy Studies Organization. Keenan, J. 1999. “Expanding the Discourse of Care: Family Constructed Biographies of Nursing Home Residents.” Families, Systems & Health. Koenig, R. 1997.“Home health care nursing: past and present. (part 1)” MedSurg Nursing. Laferriere, R. 1993. “Client Satisfaction with Home Health Care Nursing.” Journal of Community Health Nursing. Volume 10: 2. “Long-Term Care” http://www.medicare.gov/LongTermCare/Static/Home.asp. Macknick, Frank J. 1998. “Two takes on facility marketing. (services provided by nursing homes, assisted living facilities and retirement homes).” Nursing Homes. Maude-Griffin, R. 2001. “Outcome Trajectories for Assisted Living and Nursing Facility Residents in Oregon.” Health Services Research. “Nursing home.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursing_home. “Nursing homes.” http://www.elderweb.com/home/node/2699. Peak, T & Sinclair, S. 2002. “Using Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Homes.” Health and Social Work. Volume 27: 1. National Association of Social Workers Peete, D. 1997. “Administrators: transitioning from nursing homes to assisted living.” Nursing Homes. “Planning Ahead: A Consumer's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities”. http://www.longtermcareliving.com/planning_ahead/assisted/assisted1.htm. “Planning Ahead: A Consumer's Guide to Nursing Facilities.” http://www.longtermcareliving.com/planning_ahead/nursing/nursing1.htm. “Satisfaction With Care Among Community Residential Care Residents.” http://jah.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/17/1/3. “Regulation of Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.” http://www.legis.state.wi.us/LAB/reports/02-21Tear.htm. November 22, 2006. Torrington, J. 1996. “Care Homes for Older People.” E & FN Spon. Place of Publication: London. Wilson, K. 2000. “An Aging America Faces the Assisted Living Alternative.” USA Today. Volume 128: 2658. Society for the Advancement of Education. Read More