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

Abstract

Purpose Resident satisfaction is a catalyst for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) to enhance their competitiveness in the expanding senior living market. CCRC attributes play an imperative role in resident satisfaction when older adults reside in these communities. The purpose of this study was to identify the attributes that affect CCRC resident satisfaction and quantify their relative levels of importance. In addition, the impact of resident satisfaction on word of mouth (WOM) and satisfaction with life was examined. Design/methodology/approach The proposed hypotheses were tested by performing structural equation modeling on the data collected from 332 CCRC residents throughout the USA. Findings The study results revealed that all 10 of the CCRC attributes identified in this study significantly influenced resident satisfaction. Sociopsychological factors had the strongest influence on resident satisfaction, followed by cost and value, medical services, availability of activities, food and beverage services, design, rooms, management and staff, location, and spiritual environment. The study results further indicated that resident satisfaction had a positive impact on WOM and satisfaction with life. Practical implications This study provides significant practical implications for CCRC owners and operators to help them better identify the types of CCRC attributes and their relative levels of importance for resident satisfaction. Originality/value This study is one of the first comprehensive studies to identify CCRC attributes associated with resident satisfaction and examine the impact of resident satisfaction on satisfaction with life within the senior living field.

Social connectedness and well-being of elderly customers: Do employee-to-customer interactions matter?

“…Third, the study contributes to a limited stream of research on tourism and aging (Sedgley et al, 2011) by shifting attention to elderly care homes, a largely neglected segment in hospitality research. By doing so, the study echoes research emphasizing the importance of investigating hospitality in hospital and social care settings (Jonsson et al, 2021;Russell-Bennett et al, 2017) and contributes by positioning a stream of hospitality research oriented toward healthy aging as a significant societal issue (Chaulagain et al, 2022;Wen et al, 2022). -the need for security, -the need for affection, -the need for behavioral confirmation, the need for status, -the need for connectedness to a society…”

“…This omission, also noted by some researchers (e.g., Galeone & Sebastiani, 2021), is intriguing given the intertwining nature of well-being and tourism and hospitality services. More importantly, recent research calls for greater focus on the role of tourism and hospitality in addressing societal issues related to aging and well-being of the elderly (Chaulagain et al, 2022;Wen et al, 2022). The current investigation responds to this call by examining the role of social interactions that take place between hospitality employees and elderly customers as a potential pathway to social well-being and scrutinizing the transformative outcomes of value exchange and value co-creation.…”

“…According to Kim et al (2015), social interactions play a crucial role, particularly among the elderly (Kim et al, 2016). Several studies indicate that interpersonal relationships between caregivers and residents in elderly care homes are crucial determinants of care experiences (Nolan et al, 2004;McGilton & Boscart, 2007;Chaulagain et al, 2022) as residents appreciate when their needs for closeness and intimacy are met by the staff (Cook & Brown-Wilson, 2010). Interactions between older adults and staff in elderly Interviews with 13 senior managers and experts of hot spring hotels in Taiwan and a survey of 578 older adults staying in these hotels.…”

“…Previous research also emphasizes the role of hospitality businesses in facilitating elderly customers' social interactions and subsequent well-being (Altinay et al, 2019;Song et al, 2018). In a recent study, Chaulagain et al (2022) identified staff as a key attribute positively influencing elderly residents' satisfaction, which, in turn, enhances their life satisfaction. It is, therefore, plausible to assume that favorable social interactions with employees may result in enhanced social well-being.…”

“…It has become clear that aging is a significant societal challenge fueling a growing debate in the public arena as well as in academia (Ten Bruggencate et al, 2018;Zhu & Walker, 2022), and it is not a contingency that the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021) has been announced recently. As in other disciplines, including sociology and psychology, a growing volume of tourism and hospitality research has endeavored to tackle the issue of aging from different perspectives including positive psychology and the transformative research paradigm (Chaulagain et al, 2022;Sedgley et al, 2011;Wen et al, 2022). The majority of these studies address means of enhancing the mental, psychological, and social well-being of the elderly.…”