On Thursday August 26, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) conducted the video conference, “Results of the 2009 Elderly Waiver Consumer Experience Survey and 2009 Long Term Care Gaps Analysis Survey.”  We have posted a copy of the 90-slide presentation on our website with one slide to a page, so members can accurately read the multiple hues of blues that appear on many of the pie charts and bar graphs (scroll down to the bottom of the web page for the link to this document).  The full EW Consumer Survey Report and an executive summary will be posted to DHS website in the near future at http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/gapsanalysis.

The survey is part of the quality assurance efforts of DHS.  The survey was conducted in person between July and December of 2009, with 343 surveys included in the final analysis.  81% of the respondents reported getting assistance from a paid provider.  Remember that the survey covers consumers in residential settings (housing with services or adult foster care) and outside of residential settings.  Here are some highlights:

More than 95% of consumers with paid staff report their staff “usually” or “always”

• Treat them respectfully
• Respect their privacy
• Do the things the consumer requests
• Come on time and stay as long as they are supposed to
  (Slides 22 and 23)

85% would recommend their staff to others (Slide 25)
95% report the paid help they receive is about the same or better than they expected (Slide 26)

When consumers were interested in changing or complaining about services, there was a significant increase from 17% in 2007 to 38% in 2009 in the frequency that the consumer would contact provider staff (rather than a care manager or family member) to change their services.  If the consumer wanted to complain about services, this figure has increased from 17% in 2007 to 41% in 2009 (Slides 30 and 31).

Slide 35 shows how frequently a case manager has contacted the consumer by phone or visit:  50% responded that it was every few months and 20% said, “about once a year.”  Nearly one in four consumers had experienced a change in care managers in the past year, with one quarter of those indicating the change had been problematic (slides 37 and 38).  The issues of changes in care managers was included in the recommendations section of the report on slide 52.

The Gaps Analysis is a biannual survey that was initiated in 2001.  The survey gathers county perspectives on local capacity to meet the long-term care needs of current residents for:  Home and Community-Based Services, Housing and Nursing Facility Specialty Beds and Relocation.  The 2009 County Profiles are available at www.dhs.state.mn.us/gapsanalysis.  The results are included in the Status of Long-Term Care Report to the Legislature which is available on our website at http://www.careproviders.org/members/2010/Status_of_LTC_In_MN.pdf.

Phil Manz
952.851.2484
pmanz@careproviders.org

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