In 2021 the Texas Legislature instructed the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to survey Assisted Living communities in the state of Texas and evaluate the quality care and services. The study was conducted in 2022 through a partnership between the HHSC and the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Center for Excellence in Aging Services and Long-term Care. Researchers conducted hundreds of on-site visits, interviewed staff, met with residents, and sent out hundreds of questionnaires with over 150 questions.
The impact of the HHSC and UT Austin study is wide reaching and significant. The HHSC is the regulatory agency for Assisted Living in the state of Texas; so, these results are unbiased. The study resulted in overwhelmingly positive results indicating that the care and services that Assisted Living communities in Texas offer help residents thrive.
The results of the HHSC and UT study have recently been published on the HHSC’s website. Overall, residents reported positive responses on a variety of key areas including maintaining independence and choice, protecting mental and physical health, and their rights as residents in an assisted living community.
From the report: “Researchers contacted a total of 517 facilities for this study. UT staff, including registered nurses, made on-site visits to the required number of ALFs and interviewed a sampling of residents, staff, and ombudsmen. UT also used surveys to assess quality of care and life at both the resident and facility level.”
In addition to questionnaires sent to providers, researchers conducted deep dives into community policies and procedures. The report states “UT reported that not all facilities provided written policies in every area, with some ALFs having more robust policies than others. However, reviewers reported no observations in these 23 facilities indicating concern for residents’ mental, physical, or psychosocial well-being.”
Those observations by researchers mirrored resident responses. “Most residents rate their health as good, very good, or excellent (77.6%) and indicate that their health has improved (37.9%) or not changed (41.0%) since living in the ALF.” When asked about their mental health, the majority of residents denied any form of depression (72.7%) or anxiety (71.6%).”
Researchers found no indication that communities were deficient or that they were providing substandard care. The report notes that Assisted Living is diverse, that not every community provides the same range of services to its residents, and that not every company has the same type of company policies depending on what they offer.
TALA is thrilled with these significant survey results that pronounce what TALA already knows – Assisted Living provides great care and services. TALA hope you’ll take the time to review the study for yourself.
