Paper Surveys circulated to Residents, Staff and Professional Partners form a critical part of the survey process; be sure they reflect your service. 

At Care Surveys, paper surveys are used alongside the online platform and ensures you are offering a range of accessible options. We create paper surveys for all of your surveys – residents, relatives, staff and partners. These are provided to you as a PDF for you to print and distribute as you wish. Once completed you simply scan the surveys and send them to us for processing. You can then focus your time on what matters – providing great care and supporting your service users.

How to get people to engage with the survey process 

With all surveys, both online and paper, it is vital to encourage participation and ensure everyone has the opportunity to have their voice heard. To improve your engagement and response rates we recommend:

• Set a deadline for completion.
• Send friendly reminders about completing the survey as you approach the deadline.
• Offer support to anyone that may need help completing the survey.

How to support people completing the paper survey 

Many clients/service users may need additional support to complete their paper survey, and in doing so you ensure they have the opportunity to take part in feedback. By making the process easier for them, removing barriers and frustrations, they will likely become more engaged when completing the survey. To help support people completing the survey we suggest:

• Ensure you give out a high-quality survey – print the paper survey and photocopy it, ensuring the text and star ratings are always easily read.
• Encourage people to add a star rating and check they highlight just one star!
• Encourage people to add a comment – the words of your residents and staff are invaluable evidence.
• If staff are supporting a resident to complete a survey, ensure there is an existing relationship, so the resident is comfortable being honest about their experience.
• Ensure staff record the comments of residents using their exact words.

Collating Paper Surveys 

So, now you have a pile of completed surveys, what’s next? The good news is; you do not need to manually process these yourself! We will enter all paper survey responses for you – simply scan and email them to us. For this to run smoothly there’s a few things for you to consider:

• Set a deadline which gives you plenty of time to get the surveys scanned, and time to sort any issues.
• Check through each survey – if any clarification is needed, now is the time to do it.
• One star must be selected for a comment to be added online, so do check people have ticked/circled a star rating.
• If there are multiple homes within your service, check the correct home has been selected.
• Check questions have not been missed.
• Scan the completed surveys in bundles – for example all residents for one home, followed by all staff, etc.
• If your survey was printed double sided, be sure to scan both sides!
• Check through your scanned surveys to ensure you haven’t missed pages.
• Email the scanned Paper Surveys to research@careresearch.co.uk.
• Add your home name and the words Paper Surveys to the subject line.
• Send as many emails as you need to…we don’t mind if you fill our inbox up!
• File your paper surveys and keep them until the process is complete and you have received your final documents.
• Top tip: place a blank piece of paper between each completed survey before scanning – this makes scanning and looking back through much easier.

By making the most of your paper surveys and following the simple steps above, you can ensure that every voice is captured and every response counts. Remember, we’re here to make the process as smooth as possible – so don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need a little extra help. Together, we can turn feedback into meaningful change.

You can contact us for support at any time; email us at research@careresearch.co.uk