Should I've stayed or should I've gone? What residents of continuing care retirement communities and former candidates think and feel one year after their decision: a quantitative longitudinal comparison

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare satisfaction with residence, wellbeing and physical health of continuing care retirement community (CCRC) residents with people who considered enrolling in the same CCRCs but elected not to move. A total of 101 participants were recruited from 13 CCRCs located in multiple cities in the United States of America. A phone interview was conducted with participants three months or less from enrolment and one year later. Compared with those who chose not to move, CCRC residents reported lower satisfaction at baseline, but higher satisfaction at one year. Wellbeing declined from baseline to follow-up for both groups, but was higher in CCRC residents both at baseline and at one year. CCRCs might consider giving new residents a longer cancellation period in order to allow sufficient time for the adjustment process. This, in turn, might both prevent an early departure and affect the decision of potential CCRC residents to move into the community.

What matters, and what matters most? Exploring resident satisfaction in continuing care retirement communities

“…As mentioned earlier, resident satisfaction, as a research topic, has been investigated in the senior living context by several previous researchers (Cutchin et al , 2010; Green et al , 2020; Lee, 2020a). However, only a limited number of CCRC attributes or characteristics have been studied as the antecedents of resident satisfaction (Goh et al , 2013; Nichols, 2013).…”

“…Resident satisfaction can be defined as residents’ positive evaluation of CCRC attributes. Prior literature posited that seniors were generally satisfied with their relocation to CCRCs (Green et al , 2020; Marx et al , 2011). Although some studies indicated that food service played an essential role in resident satisfaction (Curtis et al , 2005; Goh et al , 2013; Seo and Shanklin, 2005, 2007), other studies discovered that the social environment in CCRCs was more important than the physical environment in affecting resident satisfaction (Cutchin, 2010; Erickson and Krout, 2001).…”

“…Given the significance of resident satisfaction, many researchers have explored attributes that affect resident satisfaction in CCRCs (Cutchin et al, 2010;Green et al, 2020; Exploring resident satisfaction Lee, 2020aLee, , 2020b. Nevertheless, many of these prior investigations centered on investigating only a limited number of attributes that influence resident satisfaction.…”