UK’s first Continuing Care Retirement Community is a success with residents
Most residents of the UK’s first Continuing Care Retirement Community, Hartrigg Oaks in York, feel that it has delivered on its promises, according to a three-year, independent study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The study found that overall satisfaction levels with Hartrigg Oaks were high, with many residents saying that it allowed them independence, but with security and peace of mind offered by the onsite care services.
The report concludes that the Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) concept clearly appeals to many older people and suggests that Hartrigg Oaks provides a model from which further CCRCs can be developed.
Hartrigg Oaks, which opened in 1998, is a non-profit-making development run by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust. It consists of 152 bungalows clustered around a central complex with a caf, restaurant, library, arts and crafts rooms, fitness suite, and a 42-bed residential home. Residents are offered a range of support, including domestic help, personal care, and temporary, short stay and permanent residence in the onsite residential home. Its financing system, unique in the UK, involves residents pooling the annual fees to fund care and support services.
Researchers at the University of York conducted interviews and surveys with residents from spring 2000 until late 2002. They found that:
- In 2002, 83 per cent of residents were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘quite satisfied’ with Hartrigg Oaks, with less than 5 per cent expressing overall dissatisfaction. Overall satisfaction levels were highest among the most active residents, with the less active - often older and frailer - having lower overall levels of satisfaction.
- Alongside the care services, the residents were attracted to Hartrigg Oaks by the bungalows with high space standards, the onsite facilities and the active social life.
- The ‘pooled finance’ model, with the option of a clear and fixed fee that would not rise (apart from inflation), appealed to many residents as it had allowed them to plan for their care needs in the future.
- Most residents felt that Hartrigg Oaks worked well as a community, with a high number of resident-led activities and a sense of ‘good neighbourliness’ between residents.
Nicholas Pleace, a Senior Research Fellow and co-author of the report, said: “We found that Hartrigg Oaks provided the reassurance of extensive care and support should it be needed, but residents also chose to live there, and feel positive about having moved there, because it provided a housing option that recognised that retirement is often the point at which we have more control over how we spend our time, and more independence, than at any other point in our lives.”
Lord Best, Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), added: “The Foundation is now planning a programme to promote up to ten Continuing Care Retirement Communities of this kind throughout the UK. Cedric Dennis, the Foundation’s Director of Care Services, will be playing a key role in this work and interested parties can contact him at the JRF.”
