Relationship Between Familiarity, Attitudes, and Preferences by Cagri Imamoglu and Oclay Imamoglu - Coursework Example

With regard to nursing homes, increasing familiarity led to a rise in unfavorable views about regular nursing homes. (1)

Various other studies in the realm have focused upon the key fact that, traditional nursing homes were not up to the mark, for addressing the varied necessities of the aged people. Owing to that, the population demanded authorities to introduce some facilities where an ambiance similar to that of a home is present. The assisted living facilities can be rated as being a direct response to this crucial requirement of people. (1)

At this juncture, it needs to be specifically mentioned that, assisted living facilities extend care to people with varying profiles and diverse problems, and that too in a predominantly informal environment. Despite the growing popularity of these places, yet, it has to be stated that the majority of people are not having a proper understanding of the facilities. In fact, these people are considering assisted living facilities as being nothing more than small-sized nursing homes. The findings of this study show that that particular view held by many people comes close to being a misconception. (1)

This particular study has thrown light on the vital point that, people residing in assisted living facilities have voiced highly positive opinions about these places. The researchers have classified this finding as being a direct result of what is termed as the “exposure effect”. “Exposure effect” argues that the extent to which people develop a liking for a place is directly linked to their level of exposure to the particular place. As a matter of fact, several types of research carried out in different spheres strongly suggest that the “exposure effect” is indeed a fact. (1)

However, when the scenario of nursing homes was taken into account, the “exposure effect” was not seen, in the sense that there was no increase in favorable opinions. Experts have explained this by emphasizing a crucial aspect that, there is an enhancement of positive views only when the initially formed opinion is a favorable one or at least a neutral one. Similarly, they (expert) also explain that the negative ideas formed in the first instance get furthered with a rise in familiarity. (1)

As a part of this study, all the respondents were given a comprehensive questionnaire, answers to which were sufficient to highlight nothing but just facts. It was seen that people gave their first preference to home and stated that nothing can ever take the place of a home. The respondents also conveyed that a conventional nursing home was the one whose ambiance was diametrically opposite to that of a home. They also maintained that though an assisted living facility is not exactly like a home, yet, it does have some features making it resemble a home. (1)

This exhaustive study also came out with some other interesting findings. All the respondents were more or less unanimous in conveying that, as far as possible, they preferred to reside in their respective homes themselves. But, they also added that, if a situation so demands, they would be having no objection to staying at assisted living facilities. The fact that all of them treated a nursing home as the least preferred option warrants special mention. Also, it has to be noted that most of the respondents said that having assisted living facilities around would indeed be very helpful. (1)

This study is too comprehensive and too intricate to be totally covered in a brief paper such as this one. Yet, the major observation has to be again specifically emphasized upon. When an assisted living facility is considered, it has been noted that the positive attitudes towards it proportionately increase with the exposure. Likewise, the unfavorable view of a nursing home increases even more, as people get more and more familiar with it. To elaborate further, it needs to be observed that, the aforementioned “exposure effect” just enhances the already-existing view of a place, and that it need not necessarily lead to positive views. To put it in simple words, most people developed a favorable opinion of assisted living facilities, on their first exposure itself. And also, the majority of respondents were not comfortable with the relatively rigid environment of a nursing home, in the first instance itself. Owing to all that, they developed a liking towards the assisted living facility and a dislike for the nursing home, as they got more familiar with both the places. (1)

The article argues that this study cannot be considered to be a totally comprehensive one, for the number of respondents is relatively less. It (the articles) maintains that there is no way in which the observations of this study can be stated as being applicable to the entire population. The article suggests that further studies in this direction are imperative before any generalizations can be made. There is no denying the fact that there are sections of the society having positive ideas even about nursing homes, and they have been ignored by this study. This can be deemed to be a major drawback of the study, as per this article. But the article subtly suggests that, on the whole, there is no hesitation in admitting the fact that assisted living facilities are now being given more preference than traditional nursing homes. (1)