The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Long-Term Care Specialists

Abstract

The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Long-Term Care of Specialists was administered via the World Wide Web from September 2007 through March 2008. The primary purpose was to characterize the views of those with known or demonstrable experience and expertise with at least one aspect of long-term care. Among 2,577 potential respondents, 1,147 completed the entire survey for an overall response rate of 44.5%. This special supplement of Medical Care Research and Review uses data collected from the survey to explore several issue areas, namely, reforming long-term care financing, improving government oversight, adopting nursing home culture change, and rebalancing long-term care away from institutions toward home- and community-based services. Analyses documenting the opinion networks of long-term care specialists and the relationship between network characteristics and attitudes toward reform are also reported. Two leading experts provide commentary as well. Details of the study's methodology and issue content are described.