Hopefully, quality of life and experience of care surveys will continue to evolve with learnings and feedback from the providers who conduct them, writes Elyssia Clark.
When the Federal Government announced the introduction of surveys to monitor the care and quality of life of elderly residents, we identified two potential challenges.
Not only were there challenges as to how we were going to deliver the Quality of Care Experience – Aged Care Consumers (QCE-ACC) and the Quality of Life and Aged Care Consumers (QOL) surveys -ACC) – but there were also concerns about how residents felt about participating in another survey.
We conducted pilot surveys in two homes to help us resolve any issues before the program went live in April this year. As many as 38 percent of residents declined to participate in the pilot, with many saying they had “already completed the survey.”
Also known as survey fatigue, residents felt like they were being asked to complete survey after survey, which could potentially impact the volume and quality of feedback.
Residents found the language and wording of the survey to be a challenge, as complex wording made the process intimidating. Many asked team members to read the questions and provide simplifications or additional explanations to help them understand.
Deadlines were also a problem. Our residents lead full and active lives thanks to the many activities available. This made it difficult not only to survey all the residents, but also to catch them when they were most alert, which was usually in the morning.
To combat this, our residential managers helped us identify residents with mild or no cognitive impairment who would be better able to complete the survey themselves. We’ve also increased the font size and included visual response codes to help residents respond more effectively.
Those who were unable to complete the surveys on their own were given the option of either electronically assisted interviews or proxy interviews. Assisted interviews were prioritized as part of the morning programming.
Unfortunately, the lengthy text of interviewer-assisted surveys continues to prove difficult for residents.
We have also tried to help residents understand the difference between the investigations by providing them and their family members with letters about the research as well as a point of contact for any questions. Posters were also put up in every home and all staff were fully briefed so they could answer any questions about what we were doing and why.
Despite these measures, we still expect a decline in response rates from proxy respondents, which are already only between 15 and 35 percent. We expect this figure to continue to fall unless they see changes in the care provided, which is unlikely given the short time between surveys.
We found that some questions did not apply to all residents. For example, some residents explained that they did not feel any pain and therefore could not answer questions on this topic.
Our culturally and linguistically diverse residents were also excluded from the process because no translation of the survey was available at the time of the interview.
Australia’s population of overseas-born residents has increased by almost 6 percent over the past ten years. This means there will be a corresponding increase in the number of CALD residents in the future and will need to be included in any planning for the area.
As we continue to refine the processes, we hope the surveys will continue to evolve with these learnings and provider feedback as we conduct them in the field.
Elyssia Clark is Managing Director of Customer, Insights and Marketing at Benetas
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