“Honor thy father and thy mother”: the contribution of verbal concerns to the understanding of elderly patients’ satisfaction
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults
ISSN: 1471-7794
Article publication date: 8 July 2021
Issue publication date: 11 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims first, to provide a typology of complaints concerning the treatment of elderly patients in geriatric wards; second, to estimate reported satisfaction with treatment; and third, to assess the link between verbal concerns and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the “Survey of Geriatric Wards, 2019” a sample of 4,725 family members of patients, hospitalized in 99 geriatric wards in Israel were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with treatment; they also were asked to provide verbal information on the hospitalization experience through an open-ended question. A content analysis was applied to the verbal answers, to classify them into distinct qualitative categories; a regression analysis was applied to examine the impact of the concerns on the level of patient satisfaction, net of patient’s characteristics.
Findings
Level of satisfaction among family members is very high (8.16 on a scale from 1–10), with only very few expressing verbal concerns (2.3%). Content analysis reveals five reoccurring themes: physical violence (33.3%), verbal violence (19.2%), discrimination (21.2%), lack of dignified hospitalization conditions (8.1%) and communication (18.2%). Further analysis reveals that satisfaction among those who complained, especially about interpersonal relations, is considerably and significantly lower than others.
Originality/value
Despite high levels of satisfaction with medical care in geriatric wards, the findings underscore voiced complaints as major source for explaining dis-satisfaction with hospitalization. Complaints in the realm of interpersonal relations, especially regarding verbal violence, discrimination and communication, seem to be most consequential for lowering levels of satisfaction with treatment.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to extend her gratitude to Haya Stier for the helpful comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Health of Israel for providing the data.Funding: The author received no financial support for the research and/or publication of this article.Declaration checks – The author declares that ethical approval and patient consent was not required for their paper, as this study is based on official public data released by the ministry of health in Israel.
Citation
Semyonov-Tal, K. (2021), "“Honor thy father and thy mother”: the contribution of verbal concerns to the understanding of elderly patients’ satisfaction", Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAOA-02-2021-0022
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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