Factors Associated with the Quality of Staff-Resident Interactions in Assisted Living

Background: Care interactions are verbal or nonverbal interactions between staff and residents during social or physical care activities. The quality of care interactions could be positive, negative, or neutral. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the resident- and facility-level factors associated with the care interactions in assisted living (AL). Methods: Regression analysis was performed using a stepwise method utilizing baseline data of 379 residents from 59 AL facilities recruited in a randomized trial. Results: Accounting for 8.2% of variance, increased resident agitation was associated with negative or neutral quality interactions while for-profit ownership was associated with positive quality interactions. Conclusions: To promote positive care interactions, findings suggest the need to educate staff about strategies to minimize resident agitation (eg, calm posture and respectful listening) and work toward optimizing care interactions in nonprofit settings. Future research could further explore the influence of staff-level factors on care interactions.