Cognitive Predictors of Satisfaction in Hong Kong Institutional Care Residents

Abstract

This article reports one of the first known studies which examine the association between cognitive factors and older people’s satisfaction with residential care. These factors are conceptually related to but have seldom been examined in institutional care. They include perceived service performance, service expectation, expectancy disconfirmation (operationalized as the difference between service expectation and perceived performance), perceived care need, and care need fulfillment. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with Chinese Hong Kong residents from 11 government-funded long-term care homes randomly and proportionately selected from two strata based on facility size. Finally, 405 residents were successfully interviewed. Path analysis revealed that perceived performance, expectancy disconfirmation, and being female predicted residents’ satisfaction with care. Perceived care need and care need fulfillment exerted an indirect effect on residents’ satisfaction through perceived performance. It is suggested that cognitive factors as perceived by the residents be included as predictors of resident satisfaction in long-term care.