Utilising Volunteers to Engage Resident

The information and feedback obtained through the QPS Resident Experience Survey provides an invaluable resource for residential aged care facilities. Understanding the needs and wants of your consumers is critical to improving the care and services provided. Consequently it is important to engage as many residents in the survey process as possible to ensure the facility is meeting their needs and expectations. As resident's frailty increases facilities are required to identify and develop strategies to assist with and encourage participation. Margaret Williams, Quality & Education Systems Coordinator from Hawkesbury Living shares her experience and the strategy that helped improve resident engagement within her facility.

Hawkesbury Living is a 98 bed high care nursing home located in Richmond NSW. Our facility has been participating in the QPS Benchmarking Program since the 1st of October 2006 and last quarter we conducted the annual QPS Resident Experience Survey. The majority of our residents who are cognitively capable of understanding the survey are unable to complete it by themselves due to physical limitations. In the past we have utilised volunteers or family members to assist residents, this can often provide a challenge when family members complete the survey from their own point of view or when residents do not provide honest feedback due to not wanting to upset anyone. We also noted a downward trend in our participation rate over the past 2 years, with these factors in view we decided to use certificate III aged care students here on placement to complete the survey. They are impartial and the residents feel that they can be honest, as the students are only here for a short period of time. It also removes the fear of repercussions of negative comments or ratings.

Coaching Volunteers

We approached our students and asked if they would like to participate in assisting the residents with their survey questions. It was explained that many of our residents have eyesight, dexterity and physical issues, such as being unable to write any more or a lack of education resulting in illiteracy. Students were advised that they would be performing a service and advocating for the residents, something they needed to do for their placement. All students were willing to participate and were given a pile of survey forms and a list of resident names to mark off. Prior to commencing the surveying process, a discussion was held on how it was the resident's views we were looking for and they needed to record responses accurately. A mock survey was conducted using the form and a staff member playing the resident. Most students only completed a few surveys, however we identified one student with mild Asperger's (a form of autism) who had excellent communication skills. She had a real gift for talking to residents, using patience and rephrasing to record a more accurate response and she encouraged them to add comments and then wrote them out word for word on the survey form.

Our Process & Communication

Our students went out with their list and identified the residents they needed to survey, they made interview appointments with each resident to come and see them at a suitable time. This increased participation as the residents felt they had been consulted and they really enjoyed the one to one time, some took an hour and there was no rush because the students did not have any other duties they were required to do and could sit and listen to the resident's stories.

Each day the students would come and pick up the list of remaining residents and survey forms. They would exchange tips on how to rephrase questions and identified who they were going to survey. Most students chose residents that they had previously worked with and knew a little about as they had already established a connection. Some of the residents were even asking when it was their turn to be interviewed. The Relative Satisfaction Survey was also more successful as the forms were completed in the same quarter without confusion as to whose point of view we were seeking feedback from.

Outcomes - Increased Response Rate & Overall Result

The students enjoyed spending one to one time with the residents and having a chat about what is important to them. It also met some of the communication requirements of the students work placement. Residents were happy with the arrangement and students learnt about person-centred care and the continuous improvement opportunities afforded by the survey comments.

This strategy has led to an improvement in the participation rate for the Resident Experience Survey at Hawkesbury Living and we have achieved the highest response rate to date of 88.23%. 34 residents were identified as being capable of completing the survey, 2 residents declined the survey, 2 became too ill and the remaining residents participated in the survey process.

While our overall result has continued to improve over the past 3 years it has risen by 8.60% this year providing an all time high result and we are now performing very close to the industry benchmark as evidenced in the QPS Benchmarking Trend Report below.

Feedback Process & Results

The resident experience survey results are communicated through our monthly resident and family meetings and the results and comments are posted in large print at wheelchair height within the facility. A meeting was also held with management, education, administration and recreation activities staff to review the results and comments resulting from the surveys. All of the comments provided by residents are entered into an action plan and are divided amongst the managers and team leaders of the different areas so they know where to focus attention and what improvements need to be implemented. One example of these initiatives is to review our current meal satisfaction audit which was mentioned in a higher proportion of our resident's comments as an area for improvement.

The most critical component of engaging residents in the survey process is to acknowledge the feedback provided and demonstrate how this information is being used to drive improvements. This will ensure ongoing participation and provision of valuable feedback to continually improve the care and services provided by residential aged care facilities.