Resident and family experiences with designated supportive living facilities vary greatly across the province -- HQCA calls for healthcare system to act on survey findings


CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - July 12, 2017) - Today, the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) released its 2016 designated supportive living resident and family experience survey results. The results are presented in two provincial reports, the Designated Supportive Living Resident Experience Survey Reportand the Designated Supportive Living Family Experience Survey Report, published on the HQCA's website.

Additionally, the HQCA provided individualized reports to each participating facility about the unique experiences of their residents and family members.

The reports capture the voice of 7,400 Albertans who rely on care from designated supportive living (4,600 family members; 2,800 residents).

"The HQCA has a legislated mandate to use surveys to provide a voice for Albertans about their healthcare experiences," says Andrew Neuner, HQCA CEO. "We objectively report the input we receive with the intention to honour those voices by influencing the healthcare system in a meaningful way."

Most notably, the survey results demonstrated that across designated supportive living facilities in Alberta, not all residents and family members experience the same quality of care. For individual facilities, residents' rating of their overall care experience ranged from 6.0 to 9.6 out of 10 and family members' rating of overall care experience ranged from 6.7 to 9.8 out of 10.

"While residents at some facilities experience exceptional care, residents at other facilities have experiences that are less than ideal," says Mr. Neuner. "Those facilities with high scores demonstrate that it is possible for residents and families to have very positive experiences.

"We are calling on designated supportive living provider organizations across the province, Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health to come together and act on these survey results and provide residents with the best experience possible."

"Given the high response rate to this survey, it is clear that residents and their families want the HQCA to share and report on their experiences," says Geralyn L'Heureux, Chair, HQCA Patient/Family Safety Advisory Panel. "It is fundamental to residents' overall quality of life, and to quality improvement, that the different organizations involved in designated supportive living care and services listen to and respond to the experiences of residents and their families."

The surveys ask residents and family members questions about a number of factors that reflect their experiences with care and services. These include: a global overall care rating, whether or not the respondent would recommend the facility, experiences with food, and experiences on various other dimensions of care, such as: staffing, care of belongings and environment; employee responsiveness; communication with management; and, activities.

Survey highlights include:

  • On a scale of 100, individual facility's survey scores on residents' experiences related to meals and dining range from 59 to 93.
  • On a scale of 100, individual facility's survey scores on residents' experiences related to communication with staff range from 60 to 99.
  • On a scale of 100, individual facility's survey scores on family members' experiences related to staffing, care of belongings, and the environment range from 59 to 95.
  • On a scale of 100, individual facility's survey scores on family members' experiences related to kindness and respect range from 65 to 100.

This is the second time the provincial surveys were conducted. No statistically significant changes were seen in the 2016 results compared to the 2013-14 results.

In 2016 and 2013-14, family members were asked to respond to one open-ended survey question. Across Alberta, family members praised hardworking staff and management and the quality of care they provided to residents. Their top three recommendations for improvement were related to food, staffing levels, and cleanliness and condition of the facility.

The resident and family experiences described in the reports are just one representation of the quality of care a resident receives and should be considered with other sources of information to gain a complete picture of the quality of care and services at a particular facility.

"Albertans expect and deserve the same quality of care regardless of where it is accessed. We hope that these results promote conversations and the sharing of ideas between facilities, Alberta Health, and Alberta Health Services to improve care for all designated supportive living residents in Alberta," says Neuner.

The Health Quality Council of Alberta is a provincial agency that pursues opportunities to improve patient safety and health service quality for Albertans. The HQCA's legislative mandate is to measure, monitor, and assess health service quality.

Contact Information:

For more information, please contact:
Lisa Brake
Communications Director
Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA)
Office: 403.297.4091 Cell: 403.875.0359
Email: lisa.brake@hqca.ca