Senior living providers received good news this past week in the form of new research from the American Seniors Housing Association.

The ProMatura Group, on behalf of ASHA, surveyed more than 4,500 senior living residents and found that their sense of “feeling at home” in senior living has increased compared with similar research conducted in 2013 and 2015.

That and other findings are included in a new publication, “2025 Independent and Assisted Living Feel at Home Report.”

“This seminal research is truly game-changing for owners and operators, as it clearly connects the importance of ‘feeling at home’ by residents to high levels of resident satisfaction and to financially successful senior living communities for the first time ever,” ASHA President and CEO David Schless said in a statement. “While there are myriad factors in operating high-performing seniors housing, the importance of fostering a strong sense of feeling at home among residents is paramount.”

In the latest survey, 83% of the responding independent living residents reported feeling “at home” in their community all or most of the time. Their answers as to the reasons for their feelings provide clues to areas that providers can focus on to be successful in attracting and retaining residents. 

So what made a community feel like home to the surveyed independent living residents? Being with friends and family along with other residents, as well as a friendly, caring staff that knows their name. 

Meanwhile, 73% of the participating assisted living residents reported feeling at home all or most of the time. Several factors contributed to a feeling of home for them: friendly people, other residents, and spending time with friends; having their furniture, belongings and decorations around them; and a friendly, caring staff.

Also according to the report, four factors reinforce assisted living residents’ feeling “at home.” Those factors? The belief that if they had to do it all over again, they would pick the same community; satisfaction with their private residence; feeling that they have decorated their residence the way they like; and having a strong sense of camaraderie with others in the community.

Of course, there’s always room for improvement, and survey respondents indicated types of amenity spaces or common spaces that would make a community feel even more like home. On the list for both independent living and assisted living residents were swimming pools; closet/storage space; spaces for gathering, including getting together with family and friends; better exercise equipment; and garden area/flower beds.

Overall, however, “the data suggests that industry operators have put in the work to foster a sense of feeling at home among their residents,” said Kristen Paris, PhD, vice president of market research at ProMatura Group and lead researcher of the report. “The data also adds confirmation that the key to a satisfied resident who feels at home in their community is closely tied to their satisfaction with the apartment unit (or cottage), their sense of camaraderie in the community, and their confidence that they made the right choice to move to their community.”

And as Schless said, satisfied residents can lead to healthier senior living businesses.

“A number of factors are associated with overall resident satisfaction in IL and AL communities, but strength of ‘feeling at home’ is the strongest predictor of residents’ satisfaction with their communities. IL and AL residents who were ‘at home’ in their communities were more satisfied and greater proportions were willing to recommend the community to family and friends,” the report pointed out.

Attracting and retaining residents who feel at home and who would choose to move into the same community again “is a worthwhile goal for providers in all types of senior living communities,” the report concluded.

Copies of the publication are available for purchase at the bookstore on ASHA’s website.

Lois A. Bowers is the editor of McKnight’s Senior Living. Read some of her other columns here. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at Lois_Bowers.