By
Reggie Bourn
On
Monday, April 15th, the Raymond community met to discuss the preliminary report
of the Age-Friendly Raymond Survey. This survey was conducted by Saint Joseph’s
College Professor John Keneally and the students in his marketing research
class. The purpose of the survey was to collect the opinions of residents on
factors relating to livability in Raymond. The class performed qualitative and
quantitative analysis on the research results, and the final results will be
presented at a future meeting.
Part
of the preliminary results included the specific groupings of data, as well as
an overview of the methodology. The survey was split into two age groups, those
who were sixty-five and older, and those who were sixty-four and younger. The
older group indicated a stronger reaction towards most of the survey, but there
were two outliers. Questions about Raymond’s caregiver support and access to
information regarding financial support evoked a stronger reaction from the
younger age group.
For caregiver support, the younger group may be looking for
a program that will support their aging family members by making sure that it
will be satisfactory in the future. As for financial support, the younger
generation is looking for information on how to plan for retirement, buy
housing, and paying debts, most of which is already taken care of for the older
group.
Questions
on topics such as whether or not residents’ homes will be suitable to age in
and being able to take part in more social opportunities in/around Raymond
showed positive response rates. When asked about the current social
opportunities in Raymond, the responses were more bell-shaped, with most of the
data voting neutral. Questions about available health and wellness options for
older people and information about services and resources produced a middle
majority.
For
the average number of people in a household, the survey results divided into
three groups: one, two, and three or more. Based on these groupings, the
students in the marketing research class concluded that the two-person group
had the strongest opinions about Raymond and made up more than half of the
applicants. For the open-ended section, the Raymond residents talked the most
about the buildings, and cited the library as one of the strengths of the community,
alongside education. Talk of a community center for activities was also
suggested as a possible opportunity. Public transportation was another
highlight, with affordability being key.
Overall,
the recipients of the survey felt that aging in place and transportation were
of primary importance. Having social/recreational events as well as in-home
assistance options were also seen as very important. Based on the preliminary
results, the class is looking for actions to make Raymond more age-friendly and
ideas to survey again in the future.
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