Resident satisfaction and its components in residential aged care

The purpose of this study was to assess the direction and magnitude of the effects among the components of resident satisfaction in residential aged care and to examine if the relationships among satisfaction components vary according to facility type (i.e., nursing home and hostel). Briefly, a hostel is a low-care facility in which residents are more independent and receive personal but not nursing care.

A cross-sectional survey design was adopted to collect the required information, and a stratified random sampling approach was used to select facilities. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among satisfaction components in a sample of 394 nursing home and 752 hostel residents.

The results indicate that satisfaction with staff care has a moderate and positive effect on all other aspects of resident satisfaction. The relationships among satisfaction components are different for nursing home and hostel residents.

The findings lead to an improved understanding of the interrelationship among resident satisfaction components, which has important implications for improving quality outcomes (e.g., resident satisfaction) through appropriate intervention (e.g., enhancing staff care).