They reported they were not entirely happy with the Four Corners program as it was inflammatory and it impacted village residents negatively.
Many residents had their children contacting the operator and interrogating the decision to join the village and the terms of contracts (which may affect their inheritance). This caused considerable anxiety.
The hit to sales also resulted in a dramatic slowing of reimbursement of departing residents, especially if they were entering aged care.
However the resident associations did champion their biggest problem, being ‘communication and respect’ by operators and village managers to residents.
Our January villages.com.au National residents Survey found over 35% of residents felt their concerns and complaints are not responded to or managed respectfully, causing great anxiety.
A major initiative in the resulting Code of Conduct is complaints management.
There still remains the issue of ‘trust’ with individual resident associations. One leader explained to us that operator ‘ethics’ should be the cornerstone of all new initiatives but it is missing. Not For Profits were included in this assessment.
