Results from a survey of more than 2,500 seniors across the region is being used to help guide the County of Simcoe as it works to build on its 'Positive Aging' strategy.
At today’s committee of the whole meeting, Åsa Klint Piggott, manager of performance, evaluation and reporting, explained that further to the comprehensive needs assessment that took place in 2016, county staff have initiated a re-engagement process of gathering information on the most pressing age-friendly priorities throughout the region.
The first step of that process, Klint Piggot explained, was to disseminate a community survey to collect feedback from residents 60 years of age and older, their caregivers and service providers who support older adults.
“In 2015, the County of Simcoe received $50,000 in funding from the government of Ontario as part of its Age-Friendly Community Planning Grant Program. This funding was provided to support the implementation of a comprehensive community needs assessment and report that outlined priorities for planning needs,” she noted, adding as a result of the funding, the county recruited a firm to plan and implement a community consultation project — with oversight from the then newly developed Age-Friendly Project Steering Committee.
The results led to a community needs assessment which was used to guide the creation of the Simcoe County Positive Aging Strategy; Older Adults Strengthening Our Communities from 2018 to 2023.
“This five-year plan was used to guide many of the initiatives that have been implemented to support older adults across the region. In 2023, with over five years since the original community consultations and understanding that there are added challenges and changes because of the pandemic, staff determined that an update to the strategy was warranted.”
As a first step, an Age-Friendly Simcoe County 2023 Community Survey was developed, with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of the existing strategy and to help lay the groundwork for crafting a new, responsive strategy tailored to the evolving needs of the county's older population over the next five years, noted a staff report.
That survey was similar to the one conducted in the 2018 survey, however included additional questions that would “evaluate satisfaction of the elderly on the initiatives taken by the county through the planned strategy from the years 2018 to 2023.”
This latest survey — sent out to residents in the fall of 2023 — explained Klint Piggott, is the first step in creating a comprehensive evaluation of the existing strategy, along with a current needs assessment.
The goal was to with the research objectives being:
- Evaluate the implementation of strategies from the 2016 study;
- Identify current areas of concern and future considerations for older adults across Simcoe County’s 16 municipalities through World Health Organization’s Age- Friendly Community Planning Guidelines;
- Compare the results of the new and initial research study; and
- Establish a new strategy for the upcoming five years that aligns with the findings of the new study.
The survey focused on gathering information about what local seniors would like the county to focus on for future considerations as well as what they considered to be areas of concern.
Approximately 2,000 hard copies of the survey were distributed to locations throughout the county.
The survey garnered 2,587 responses.
According to the 2021 census, the population of individuals aged 65 and above in the area totals 100,735, which means the sample size of those who responded represents 2.56 per cent response rate of the total population aged 60 years and older in Simcoe County, which she noted is considered a “large” sample size.
The initial results of this survey have been compiled in the Age Friendly Simcoe County 2023 Community Survey Initial Report that includes analysis by the eight World Health Organization Age Friendly Dimensions including: Respect and Social Inclusion; Outdoor Spaces and Buildings; Transportation; Housing; Civil Participation and Employment; Social Participation; Communication and Information; and Community Support and Health Services, along with the additional section of Affordability and Accessibility.
“Currently, the survey results are being separated and analyzed by each individual municipality that will result in 18 separate reports to support age friendly planning in those areas.”
Community consultations are being planned to take place this fall in order to “validate survey themes and priorities” and will include key informant interviews, focus groups and public consultations.
Once the consultation process is complete, a needs assessment report will be written using the results from the survey and community consultations to help form the next iteration of the strategy, which will cover the 2024 to 2029.
