Poll shows majority of British Columbians have positive view of long term care homes

Reputation of long-term care homes strengthened by personal connection

November 26, 2018 (Burnaby, BC) — Public opinion of B.C.’s long-term care providers is greatly affected depending on whether individuals have direct experience with seniors care homes, or if they learn about them through media reports, according to a newly released poll by Research Co. conducted for BC Care Providers Association (BCCPA).

Overall views among the public of long-term care homes (also known as nursing or residential care homes) for the elderly show a slight majority (51%) have a positive view, 26% negative and 23% undecided. When respondents had personal experience with a care home, positive opinion increases to 65%, with 25% having a negative view, and 10% undecided.

By contrast, when respondents had no direct experience with care homes, just 36% had a positive opinion, 34% had a negative view, and 30% were undecided. Approximately two-thirds of the survey’s respondents indicated they had no direct experience with care homes for the elderly.

“These survey results show that British Columbians have a generally positive view of care homes for the elderly, which is welcome news,” says Daniel Fontaine, BCCPA CEO. “But the survey results also tell us that the sector has work to do in order to strengthen its reputation among the general public. In particular, we need to do a better job of telling our story to those people who’ve had no direct experience with a care home”.

Of those one-quarter of overall respondents who had recently seen a media report on seniors care homes, 65% say the last report they saw was negative and only 22% say the report was positive.

Advertisements

“Negative news reports profoundly impact seniors and their family members, as well as affect staff morale and overall recruitment in the continuing care sector,” says Fontaine. “This is why it’s critically important we encourage a conversation about what can be done to improve the way the public perceives seniors care providers.”

Last Friday, BCCPA’s popular Care to Chat speaker series took on the topic of reputational risk in seniors care, before a sold-out audience of 120 care sector stakeholders and members of the public. A panel featuring a seasoned news broadcaster and leaders from two leading national seniors care companies engaged in an open dialogue on ways the sector can work better with media.

The Research Co. survey was conducted from November 16 to 18th, 2018, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The survey data was statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. A detailed breakdown of the survey results is available at this link. Survey slides are available here.