title: A refined protocol for coding nursing home residents' comments during satisfaction interviews.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study's objective was to refine a method for coding nursing home (NH) residents' comments about their perceptions of care into unmet needs specific to the manner and frequency of care delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  NH residents (N=69) were interviewed with both closed-ended (i.e., forced-choice) and open-ended (i.e., residents' own words) questions about their perceptions of care across eight care domains. Unmet needs included comments indicating that residents desired a change in staff- and non-staff-related care. Staff-related unmet needs were further coded into unmet emotional support (i.e., emotional support or manner of care delivery) and instrumental (i.e., instrumental support or frequency of care) needs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 66 residents who commented, 66% expressed at least one unmet need across eight care domains. Among these 44 residents, 52% and 84% had unmet emotional support and instrumental support needs, respectively (kappa=68 and.92). An additional 18% expressed both unmet emotional support and instrumental support needs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The refined method offers a systematic way to code residents' comments about their care into unmet needs related to the manner and frequency of care delivery. The findings have direct implications for the identification of care areas in need of improvement from the resident's perspective and the evaluation of improvement efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Welfare and Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656, USA. llstorms@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Lené
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Levy-Storms
authors.forename: Sandra F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Veronica F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miller-Martinez
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Schnelle
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support