An article finding that employee satisfaction can be an astute predictor of residents’ family satisfaction is being honored by a major senior care association.

Dr. Leslie Grant’s article, “Organizational Predictors of Family Satisfaction in Nursing Facilities,” earned the 2004 Paper of the Year award from the peer-reviewed Seniors Housing & Care Journal, published each year by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industries.

Employees at nursing homes who expressed high job satisfaction received better training and supervision, and thus satisfied family members better by providing their loved ones with exceptional care, according to Grant’s article.

The director of the Center for Aging Services Management at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Grant based his conclusions on data generated by a quality measurement and management company. The data included surveys from 10,547 family members and 11,890 employees at more than 90% of Georgia’s 347 nursing facilities.