Results of First-Ever Older Adults Survey are Released

 Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles have released the results of a groundbreaking survey regarding the identified needs of older adults in Los Angeles County.  The Los Angeles Region is home to nearly one-third of California’s seniors. The first of its kind, L.A. County Seniors Count! Survey of the Older Adult Population, is the result of a countywide needs assessment survey, generating responses from 16,500 and culturally diverse residents, age 60 and over.
 
Cynthia Banks, Director, County of Los Angeles, Community and Senior Services visited Senior LIVING Magazine, to discuss the results of the countywide survey, that the County of Los Angeles Supervisors assigned to her. The initiative was requested by the chief executive officer of Los Angeles County, in looking at the county services that are offered to seniors.  Banks noted that, “there are forty county departments within Los Angeles County.  Over twenty of them offer services to seniors.  Community and Senior Services, is only one”.   She further stated, “ that they’re probably fifty different programs for seniors within the county.  Some of them overlap. But what we found is that the various programs don’t know about each other.  So if one person comes to the assessor about assistance with their tax bill, they may not be referred to our “meals on wheels” program.  So what we are attempting to do is make sure, first of all, that there is no overlap, to provide and streamline our many services”.

In Los Angles County the 2000 census showed that we had 1.3 million seniors, those over sixty years of age.  It is now predicted that by 2030 that the population will grow by 100%. Part of the research that is going on is addressing the health issues of our seniors.  Traditionally, we know that females outlive males by a number of years, usually about a decade.  What the health field is doing and our research in the health area is looking at ways to extent life, but also not only extending life, but also extending the quality of life.  Our health research will help us to provide the programs that our seniors will need to maintain their quality of life.  One of the goals is to allow seniors to take advantage of activities that are offered that have shown to reduce the number of doctor’s visits and significantly increase their mental health as well as their ability to socialize with others.

A joint effort of the Los Angeles County Community and Senior Services Department (CSS), Los Angeles City Department of Aging (DOA) and the Los Angeles County Commission on Aging (LACCOA).  L.A. Seniors Count! Survey of the Older Adult Population” report was recently presented at the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and American Society on Aging (ASA) Joint Conference, the nation’s largest conference on aging.

“This is the first time that Area Agencies on Aging have jointly surveyed seniors directly,” says Cynthia Banks, Director of CSS.  “Prior surveys have been based mostly on information gathered from secondary sources and not seniors themselves. This research does not rely on an expert’s vision, but on the opinions of the people who live in the county. In addition we found that a number of our seniors want to become more social engaged.  In the past it was thought that our seniors wanted a place to go to play bingo.  We’re not finding that to be the case.  They want the social engagement.  They want to make sure that they have proper health arrangements. To make sure that they have enough information about services, those are offered to them in the community such as legal services, benefits, safety, and transportation, especially consumer protection, with regards to identity theft.”
 
The report identifies 21 key findings, highlighting the areas of greatest concern for the respondents.  Key Findings Include: • Inadequate or no dental insurance  • Inadequate prescription drug coverage • Interest in physical exercise, health promotion and disease prevention  • Wanted safety information or had safety issues  • Lacked information about productive activities  “The findings revealed that health issues make up the greatest area of need,” says Laura Trejo, General Manager, DOA. “Many of the respondents lack adequate health and dental insurance and expressed difficulty in accessing preventive health services.  We also found that we cannot talk too broadly about the needs of county seniors. Residents with different backgrounds and in different geographical areas often reported different needs.”

Multicultural Needs
 As to the issue of the large number of minorities that we have in Los Angeles County and the non-English speaking individuals, Banks advised “Our study attracted information on six different languages including English.  We know that the study we conducted is really a base-line study. We also know there’s probably forty or more different languages and dialects in the Los Angles County area man which were not addressed in this Survey.  However, we hope that many of those individuals who speak other languages also speak English and we addressed their concerns through our English speaking survey.  Bu throughout the future, what we plan to do is get out into the community to address those individual needs of the various cultures within our county.  It’s a tremendous challenge”.

Background: To gain a clearer understanding of the current needs of seniors, CSS, DOA and LACCOA collaborated on a large-scale needs assessment survey of county residents age 60 and over. The four-page survey contained a total of 40 questions covering seven categories:  health, productive activity, information assistance, daily activities, housing, transportation and care giving.  Approximately 100,000 surveys were distributed throughout the county and were completed by nearly 16,500 men and women.

The needs assessment survey process included:  • A partnership of the CSS, DOA and LACCOA • Distribution of approximately 100,000 copies of the survey to Los Angeles City and county senior and community centers, libraries, polling places, churches and synagogues, in-home supportive services, home-delivered meals routes • The provision of a web-based opportunity for completion of the survey in English and Spanish •The distribution of the survey in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, Armenian and Japanese • Conducting a national search for senior needs assessment survey reports • A literature review of Gerontology studies • Support from Kaiser Foundation, California Community Foundation, Los Angeles County Commission on Aging, and CVS.  The needs assessment has identified opportunities for L.A. County to prevent or delay dependence by creating systems and services that allow older adults to sustain self-sufficiency.  “The report provides the county and the city with information that is invaluable for both planning programs and advocacy,” says Commissioner Marilyn Fried, Chair of the L.A. County Commission on Aging Needs Assessment Committee. “We are eager to share it with others who can use the results to help seniors lead healthy and productive lives for as long as possible.”
Copies of “L.A. County Seniors Count! Survey of the Older Adult population” is available at http://css.lacounty.gov; and www.lacity.org/DOA, or you may call Patricia Senette-Holt at (213) 738-2065.

Cynthia Banks, Director, County of Los Angeles, Community and Senior Services