Survey: Dirty Carpet Impacts Perception of Care in Long-term Care Facilities

Clean carpet matters in nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities, according to a new Harris Poll.The survey found that 54 percent of Americans would question the quality of care a long-term care facility offers after seeing dirty carpet at the facilityThe survey also revealed additional American actions, perceptions and assumptions that would result from seeing dirty carpet in a long-term care facility, including:

• More than half (54 percent) would complain to management 
• Forty-eight percent would question the facility’s commitment to resident and staff health
• Nearly half (46 percent) would assume the facility is not properly cleaned 
• Forty-four percent would consider an alternative facility for themselves or a family member to reside in
• Two in five (40 percent) would tell friends, family or other residents about the lack of cleanliness 
• Nearly one in three (30 percent) would complain to the local Department of Public Health 
• Nearly one in five (19 percent) would write a negative review online

Older Americans (those 65+) are also more likely than their younger counterparts to be influenced by dirty carpet, with 77 percent noting they would complain to management or the local Department of Public Health vs. 57 percent of those ages 18-64. Sixty-four percent of older Americans would question the quality of care the facility offers vs. 43 percent of those age 18-44, and nearly three in five of those 65+ (59 percent) would consider an alternative facility for themselves or a family member to reside in vs. 36 percent of those age 18-64.

The survey was conducted on behalf of Whittaker,