Paper Title
Measuring Factors Important to Choice of Assisted Living and Care Facilities in the Thai Context

Abstract
This is an exploratory pilot study to identify the main factors that drive choice for assisted living and care facilities among potential residents and their families in Thailand. The research project was part of a client based learning module in a university senior business research course. The intention is for this project to lay the foundation for future research into measuring quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention in the assisted living and nursing care services industry. The client industry partner was a vineyard interested in building and operating an assisted living community, and what factors would be most important to consider in design and marketing to residents and their families. There are numerous studies and models on what factors contribute to resident and family satisfaction with health care services. There are also studies on what factors most influence choice and purchase intention in assisted living communities from a real estate perspective. This questionnaire was developed based on prior quantitative service quality and satisfaction research models, in combination with two rounds of qualitative focus group discussions with students on what factors they and their families consider important when choosing a care facility. In addition, the client was also interested in how important location and special dietary options are to choice, and whether those factors could be used to differentiate competing service offerings. As expected based on prior research, medical care and quality were the most important factors. However, technology and security were identified as second most important. Specific locations and dietary options were ranked highly by some segments and warrant consideration in follow up research. Keywords - Aging Population, Assisted Living, Client Based Learning, Retirement Community