U.S. News & World Report came out with its first ever “Best Senior Living” list on Tuesday, creating new designations of Best Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and CCRCs. U.S. News and its survey provider, Dr. Jacquelyn Kung’s Activated Insights, administered satisfaction surveys at 3,045 communities throughout the country between March 2021 and February 2022, evaluating four basic categories: community & activity, food & dining, caregiving, and management & staff. Also, family responses were taken into account for assisted living scores, and memory care community scores were derived solely from family surveys. Residents tended to respond more positively than family across nearly every question, which is good to hear, so the family scores were adjusted accordingly, in addition to other adjustments made to the data.
More than eighty operators participated in the rankings, and we imagine that included nearly all of the major providers. That is one area where the rankings lag, since many small operations that could be gems in their local communities did not participate. But this really seems more like a marketing ploy for the big operators.
In the end, 1,272 communities qualified for Best in independent living, assisted living and/or memory care, or a 42% success rate, while 25 communities excelled in all three categories, including seven CCRCs. How that will impact those highlighted communities, we don’t know. But the list can really only help the industry as a whole, by attracting attention to the good services that the industry provides, educating consumers, and rewarding good work. Hopefully those winning communities planned a little party for their staff? Or a performance bonus?
