16 September 2023
This year’s annual resident survey had the highest response ever, with 16 per cent more residents providing feedback than the previous year for an overall response rate of 54 per cent.
Silvera’s resident survey is administered at the beginning of each calendar year to provide the organization with insight into what we are doing well, and how we can improve or grow our services.
“The goal of the survey is to work toward quality improvement,” says Kaitlin Murray, Research & Impact Strategist. “The information gleaned from the survey helps us to review, evaluate, redesign, and put into practice programs and services to support Silvera residents to live their best lives.”
The survey, which is anonymous, measures:
- Resident wellbeing, safety, sense of belonging and overall experience
- Employee responsiveness and competence
- Communications
- Living environment (including maintenance, housekeeping, dining services)
- Activities and programs
Kaitlin attributes the excellent response to the return of paper surveys. “We tried online surveys in the past but found that those surveys didn’t get the same uptake,” explains Kaitlin. “This year we were able to deliver a personally addressed survey to all residents across our 29 independent living and supportive living communities, and we had our greatest response rate ever, with 884 residents taking the time to complete it.”
This year’s survey included questions about the resident experience with ageism and ableism at Silvera. Additionally, SL residents were asked about the paramedical providers that are now being offered at SL communities, such as massage therapy, optometry, audiology, mobile dentistry, and foot care.
Forming meaningful relationships
Eighty-eight per cent of IL residents and 94 per cent of SL residents agreed they have formed meaningful relationships at Silvera with employees and other residents. “These numbers really speak to the wonderful sense of community residents feel at Silvera,” says Kaitlin. “It is something that sets communal residential living apart from living on one’s own in a non-senior setting.”
Seventy-seven per cent of SL respondents feel that participating in Silvera programs significantly improve their quality of life (an increase of 12 per cent over the last survey.)
Always room for improvement
While there are dozens of reasons to celebrate the best parts of living at Silvera, there are always opportunities to grow. Here are a few areas Silvera aims to improve upon:
- Improving maintenance response times and communication, specifically for IL communities
- Ensuring all residents are familiar and comfortable with emergency and evacuation procedures
- Adding more partner services to support residents experiencing vision and hearing challenges to continue to engage with their community and in Life, Learning, and Leisure programs
Silvera’s leadership team examines the survey results and uses them to make program improvements. “We always share the results with all communities to see how we can learn from each other and provide support across each team,” says Kaitlin.
Residents also have input into the survey itself through our Silvera Scholars group. Silvera’s Research team conducted resident focus groups late last year to gather input on the question wording. Residents are also great ambassadors of the survey, encouraging their fellow residents to fill out the survey to ensure a robust response.
“A big thank you to all the wonderful Silvera residents who take the time to share their input and feedback,” says Kaitlin. “Resident participation is essential in providing Silvera with information to continue to grow and improve year over year.”
By the numbers
- Overall satisfaction rate of Silvera residents: 79.4 per cent
- 99 per cent of all residents say they are treated with respect at Silvera.
- 99 per cent of all residents agree that their suites are well maintained.
- 85 per cent of respondents are satisfied with opportunities to learn new knowledge and skills at Silvera.