NYSOFA Conducts First Statewide Community Assessment Survey of Older Adults

A Message from NYSOFA Director Greg Olsen to Aging Services Providers

NYSOFA, in partnership with the Association on Aging in New York and the survey firm Polco, is conducting the first-ever statewide comprehensive community needs assessment survey of older adults.

Households in your community may have received a postcard signed by me in the mail. If they have, please know that it is official, and we hope that individuals in your community take a few minutes to let us know what is on their minds.

Each postcard has a different link so that we can capture granular data from each county. In the future, we will be a distributing a general survey for anyone to fill out. When we are ready for that phase of the project, NYSOFA will be engaging all stakeholders to get as many complete surveys as possible. We expect to reach well over 200,000 older adults for their feedback.  

Well-Timed with the Master Plan for Aging

The timing couldn’t be better. NYSOFA initiated the survey months ago in preparation for our Four-Year Plan. (Please look for further information on that process in the coming months.) But the survey results will also be an enormous contribution to the state's Master Plan for Aging (MPA) process being led by NYSOFA and the state Department of Health under the direction of Governor Kathy Hochul.

Public input is a core feature of the MPA. The survey results will provide a statistically comprehensive baseline of feedback for further consideration during upcoming MPA public listening sessions. 

What’s in the Survey

The survey covers the following areas:

• Overall community quality – assessing the community as a place to live and retire, whether individuals will recommend the community to others, and residential stability.
• Community and belonging – assessing views about community safety, the belief that older residents are valued in the community, and concerns about crime victimization and abuse.
• Community information – assessing the availability of information about older adult resources and financial or legal services.
• Productive activities – assessing civic engagement, such as volunteering, voting, social engagement, social and religious activities, recreation, personal enrichment, caregiving, and economic contributions.
• Health and wellness – physical health, physical fitness, mental health, emotional wellbeing, quality of life, health care, independent living, activities of daily living and hospitalizations.
• Community design and land use – housing variety and availability, ease of travel (by car, foot, and bus), access to daily needs, overall quality of life.

Help Spread the Word

Please help us spread the word that residents in your community may be receiving the survey, and encourage older adults to complete it.

NYSOFA has posted a notice to the home page of our website for anyone with questions about the survey; but we also rely on you to get the message out. If you haven't done so already, please use the social media templates provided by Polco.