Ashby Village Listens to Its “Over 80s” Members
As Ashby Village grows, the age of our current and new members is increasing. The Social Services Committee decided to conduct a survey of Ashby Village members over the age of 80 years to learn:
- what changes members in their 80s and 90s have experienced in their life situations since they’ve joined
- what services and activities they have found helpful and would like to see developed or expanded in the future
- what they had found satisfying and pleasurable either individually or in their engagement with others.
It was discovered that a primary motivation for these members to join Ashby Village was the hope of remaining in their own home as long as possible. Other findings included:
Activities
- While forums, Christmas parties, picnics and other large group social gatherings were enjoyable, smaller group activities (such as luncheons potlucks or neighborhood groups) with educational, creative or entertainment features were more compelling.
- The emergence of neighborhood groups was highly desirable and members who had participated in these were hopeful that leadership would emerge.
Services
- Concierge services were highly valued and one of the stated reasons for joining. Familiarity with office or staff members (knowing them by name) was often cited as cause for satisfaction.
- Preferred Providers referred by Ashby Village were highly commended for their performance and efficiency; for example, plumbing, moving furniture, yard work, house cleaning and housekeeping.
- Volunteer services, particularly transportation, were highly praised and valued, especially those supporting medical appointments. Individually requested volunteer services such as help with filing, writing projects or Med-Pal services were also greatly appreciated.
- Repeatedly members praised the “human contact” with the volunteers as being as valuable as the service.
Members’ Wish List
- Expansion of access to volunteer support to include weekends and holidays.
- A list of substitute volunteers in case the assigned volunteer had to cancel.
- The expansion of “small volunteer jobs” such as helping to cook, sitting down to eat it with the member, reading aloud, watching TV.
- Consultation on legal matters.
- Recognition of the importance volunteer training to include the volunteer as the messenger for Ashby Village services and activities.
- Social action on behalf of Ashby Village members in areas of importance to them, such as public transportation, Social Security and Medi-Care.
Case Management
- Many of those surveyed, especially those who lived alone or whose close relatives where not readily available, wished that a specific person could be available to them individually in the case of a serious accident, or illness or the need to plan for care.
- Several members verbalized concern about the prospect of referral to another agency when they needed help at the time of disaster.
- A surprising number of requests for someone to call by telephone, and dissatisfaction with the delays of e-mail were noted. Several members in their 90’s poignantly expressed this wish as the one thing that concerned them most in making the decision to remain in their own homes.
We’d like to thank our survey respondents for their frank and generous feedback. Further consideration and follow-up will be forthcoming.
By Debby Levy, Merle Davis and Julianne Morris
Members of the Social Services Committee
|