User and family satisfaction with nursing homes: a systematic review

Implementation of person-directed care planning is a challenge for nursing home services. User satisfaction is indispensable to implement it.

The aim of this study was to address user and family satisfaction with nursing homes and the scales used and to identify the determinants of satisfaction with this service.

A systematic review was conducted, and the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and CINAHL databases were searched between December 2019 and April 2020. Studies involving assessment of user or family satisfaction with nursing homes and users ≥65 years old or their families were included in this review. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed by the Joanna Briggs Institute reviewer's manual.

Eight articles were included based on the eligibility criteria, from a total of 2378 records found in the electronic search. All studies presented a cross-sectional design, and the total sample of this review was 57 214 older people. Most of the studies included showed positive overall satisfaction with nursing homes. There was no consensus about the best scale to assess satisfaction because of the huge variety of tools among studies. The most common determinants of satisfaction among studies were quality of life (mental and physical components), anxiety and social and health factors.

The findings of our review may contribute to a better view of satisfaction with nursing homes experienced by users and families and to an improvement of care in these institutions.