Impact of facilities management on the quality of life for the elderly in care and attention homes – Cross-validation by quantitative and qualitative studies

Abstract

The rapid increase in elderly population has increased demand on care services and care and attention homes in Hong Kong. Elderly residents in care and attention homes rely heavily on facilities to maintain their quality of life. However, many care and attention homes are not purpose-built for elderly people. This paper investigates the relationship between facilities management of care and attention homes and elderly quality of life using both quantitative and qualitative data. A questionnaire was distributed among elders of eight recruited care and attention homes with four categories (government-financed non-purpose-built, government-financed purpose-built, self-financed non-purpose-built and self-financed purpose-built) in Hong Kong. Selected care and attention homes were a good mixture of operating types, building age and building types. A total of 56 questionnaires were completed by both elderly residents and staff in care and attention homes (37.5% were male and 62.5% were female), followed by semi-structured interviews; 48.2% of respondents were over 80 years of age and 93% had lived in C&A homes for more than one year. The findings identified 19 indoor facilities factors and also measured elderly quality of life. The results showed that space identification, distance, ventilation, furniture, non-slip floors and recreation facilities were positively related to elderly quality of life. Based on these findings, several practical recommendations are proposed, including allocating larger spaces for bedrooms, designing ventilation, installation of non-slip flooring, family-like furniture and the arrangement of recreational facilities.