2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition
167
Environment, Financial Environment, Service Delivery Environment, Social Environment, Spiritual Environment)
in alphabetical order. Each column contains the specific type(s) or facets of satisfaction/dissatisfaction of each
cluster, with bullet points used to identify sub-aspects of each type.
Typology of Resident Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction with Retirement Community Living
Built
Environment
Financial
Environment
Service Delivery
Environment
Social Environment
Spiritual
Environment
The Individual
Residence
•
Condition of
interior (i.e.
appliances,
paint, carpet,
etc.)
•
Garage space
•
Outlook/Sun
•
Overall design
•
Storage space
Common Space –
Internal
•
Air
conditioning
•
Clinic
•
Food and
beverage (i.e.
restaurant, bar,
etc.)
•
Trash disposal
•
Hairdressers
•
Library
•
Elevator
•
Public
meeting
space
•
Reception/Front
desk
•
Retail
•
Sport and
recreational
facilities
•
Healthy/safe
design (e.g.
wheelchair
access, design
of elevator)
Common Space –
External
•
Barbecue area
•
Community
clothesline
•
Grounds and
flower gardens
•
Vegetable and
herb Garden
•
Outdoor sport
facilities (e.g.
lawn bowls,
putting green,
etc.)
Overall Design
Security (Design)
•
Bars on
windows
•
Emergency call
Financial
Satisfaction (FS)
at Entry
•
Initial
purchase
price
Ongoing FS
•
Level of
recurrent
charges
•
Rate of
annual
increase
in
recurrent
charges
•
Extra
Benefits
•
Extra
costs
FS at departure
•
(Deferred
managem
ent fees
•
Capital
gain
Value for money
Forward planning
Services
•
Clinic/visiting
medical
practitioners
•
Emergency
response
service
•
Hairdressers
•
Maintenance
•
Front desk
service
•
Retail services
•
Sport and
recreation
•
Transport
•
Security guard
•
Food and
beverage
service (incl.
room service)
Activities
•
Programmed
social
activities
(with social
coordinator)
•
Un-
programmed
activities
Management
•
Communication
•
Low pressure
sales
•
Maintenance
•
Management
board
•
Management
proximity
•
Management
skill
Staff
Care
•
Hospital care
•
Nursing service
and extra Care
•
Ongoing care
•
Respite care
•
Support
•
Visiting doctors
Dependency/
Independency
•
Forward
planning
•
Services
•
Care (“being
looked after”)
Residents’ Committee
Social Relationships
•
Comfortable
associations
•
Companion-
ship
•
Friendship
•
Privacy
•
Social
occasions
and
meetings
Satisfaction with
Fellow
Residents
•
Diversity
•
Residents’
health and
ages
Social Atmosphere
Interdependency
Religious
Aspect
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition
168
button
•
Overall security
of community
•
Security of
individual
residence
Product Mix
•
Size of
community (i.e.
number of
residences)
•
Mix of
residences
Community location
•
Proximity to
family
•
Proximity to
local shopping
•
Proximity to
previous home
•
Surroundings
The Built Environment.
Not surprisingly, there were a number of facets of customer satisfaction that dealt
specifically with the building and its surrounds. They included the
individual residence, internal common space,
external common space, overall design of the community, security in design, the product mix, and community
location. This cluster was labeled “The Built Environment”. All four focus groups actively discussed various ways
in which the built environment contributed to their satisfaction with retirement community living.
The Individual Residence. This facet of customer satisfaction deals with all of the aspects of the interior of
the individual residence or apartment in the retirement community. The range of important
aspects includes the
condition of the interior, inclusion of garage space, the outlook of the apartment and its relation to sunshine, storage
space, and overall design.
Common space-internal. There are a number of important built features that are outside of the individual
residence but are shared in common with all residents inside the retirement community buildings. As seen in Table
1, the focus groups named at least 12 of these features including the availability of an in-house clinic for visiting
doctors and other
allied health professionals, sport and recreational facilities, hairdressing salon, library, retail shops,
and healthy/safe design.
Common space-external. This facet of customer satisfaction is so named because it encompasses shared or
common facilities that are on the grounds of the retirement community but that are external to the buildings. These
include such aspects as a barbecue area, community clothesline, and flower and vegetable gardens.
Overall design. The fact that the community is purpose-built for seniors (e.g. single-floor living, low-
maintenance, etc.) is a major cause of satisfaction. One response that was fairly typical was “I found
my family
home was too big, the taxes and maintenance costs were going up each year, there were repairs to be done, and it
was difficult home for me to maintain by myself. This community is such a lovely place…a lovely compound all
around.”
Security. As one might expect, security was a very important facet of customer satisfaction. Security, in the
design and fit-out of the built environment included such aspects
as bars on windows, emergency call buttons, card
or intercom access to the building or gated community, as well as the internal security of the individual residence.
While interviewees sometimes used the words “safe and secure” in the same phrase, for purposes of clarity this facet
of satisfaction was labeled as “security” (as opposed to Safety and security) and reserved the word “safe” (see
Common space-internal above) to describe aspects of the built environment that indicate healthy and safe design.
Product mix. This satisfaction category relates to the total number of units (and related, the total number of
residents) in the complex and to the mix of accommodation options available (i.e. from independent living units, to
serviced apartments, to residential aged care).
