Good Level of Confidence in Aged Residential Care

Good Level of Confidence in Aged Residential Care

The New Zealand public continue to have a good level of confidence in residential care for the aged, the New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA), said today.

The results arise from an annual survey undertaken by independent researchers Colmar Brunton for the Association. The survey found that 68% of New Zealanders with direct experience of aged residential care facilities rated them as good or very good, with a further 22% rating it as fair.

Only 6% of the public regards the services provided by aged care organisations in New Zealand as poor, which is down from 8% in 2010.

“It is pleasing to see the majority of New Zealanders continue to believe the aged care sector provides a very good service to our country’s older citizens,” says NZACA Chief Executive Martin Taylor.

“All core health services want to have a high level of confidence in them by the public from GPs through to DHBs, and while we are pleased with this result it also shows we have room to improve.”

At any given time across the country over 32,000 elderly are being cared for by 30,000 staff in just over 700 aged care facilities who provide rest home, hospital and dementia level care.

“The findings are also good considering the decision requiring residential aged care is a major one and if there is concern about making the transition to residential care then this survey should provide some added peace of mind to families,” Mr Taylor said.

“There is quite a significant difference in attitudes to aged residential care between those who have direct experience of it and those who don’t. This is as true for older people themselves as it is for their families and friends.

“The research showed that positive opinion about aged residential care arises through word of mouth or direct experience, whereas negative opinion is gained through the news media, which focus on bad news and do show little interest in promoting the good work, advancements and development being done around the country in residential aged care” Mr Taylor said.

“In a service sector as large as ours there are inevitably going to be problems from time to time. They are, however, isolated. Yet their impact on New Zealanders through the news media is so significant to be alarming,” Mr Taylor said.

The findings also reinforce the positive results from members’ satisfaction surveys which collectively show over 90% of residents believe the services they receive are good or very good.

ENDS

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