The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) recently sent the following update on the DHS Nursing Facility Family Satisfaction Survey:

Since 2005, DHS has contracted with the survey firm Vital Research (VR) to conduct an annual nursing facility resident interview on their quality of life and satisfaction. In summer 2010, VR also surveyed primary responsible parties regarding their satisfaction with their loved ones’ care. The Family Survey was developed under contract with the University of Minnesota and asks 37 questions about their relationship to the resident, frequency of contact with the resident, and asks them to grade their satisfaction with the environment, relationships, medical care, communication/responsiveness, food, activities, and overall impression/likelihood of recommendation. Survey forms may be viewed at http://www.vitalresearch.com/MNSurvey2010/.

Facilities were informed of the Family Survey when they were contacted to schedule an interview date for the Resident Survey. Facilities were responsible for notifying families of the Survey and encouraging their participation. Facilities were also responsible for submitting a list of primary responsible parties two weeks prior to their scheduled Resident Survey interview date. All but one facility (376 of 377) participated in the Family Survey. A local mailing house was contracted to mail the family surveys. VR also conducted follow-up phone interviews for any facility that had not received enough surveys to meet the required margin of error.

At the 376 facilities that participated, there were 28,669 nursing facility residents with a total of 27,850 primary responsible parties. VR mailed a total of 27,596 Surveys to Minnesota family members and received a total of 16,792 surveys (60%). The average number of Family Surveys completed at each facility was 45, with a range of six to 218 Surveys.

DHS has posted facility results on the Nursing Facility Provider Portal website; visit https://nfportal.dhs.state.mn.us and click on the Family Satisfaction Survey link (administrators can have login information re-sent by contacting Gary C. Johnson at gary.c.johnson@state.mn.us). The reports include information on survey respondents and grades given to each question, as well as average scores on each satisfaction domain. Statewide, respondents were least satisfied with food (an average of 67% positive response) and most satisfied with communication/responsiveness (78% positive). DHS is contracting with the University of Minnesota to analyze the data for trends, score development and possible future uses, and will share findings as they become available.

DHS appreciates facilities’ efforts during the survey process as well as their interest in the results. Please contact Teresa Lewis with any questions at 651-431-4208 or teresa.lewis@state.mn.us.

Todd Bergstrom
952.851.2486
tbergstrom@careproviders.org

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