The NYC Department for the Aging wants to hear from older New Yorkers—ages 60 and “better,” along with their caretakers—through the agency’s service needs assessment, a 20-minute survey assessing the current needs of elderly residents. They can find it at: https://agingnyc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3WSqa83TntBDG86
“With more older New Yorkers aging, every community will also see an increase in caregivers, like myself, looking after their loved ones,” Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, said in a statement. “This survey will help us better understand the needs of caregivers so we can alleviate their stress and help them overcome the challenges they face. By focusing on their needs, we can better support New Yorkers as they age-in-place.”
While the questionnaire is entirely voluntary, NYC Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez told the Amsterdam News that she wants New Yorkers to approach it as an opportunity rather than a burden. In short, the survey is the department’s first step towards determining which seniors have “access to appropriate and effective services.”
“Data sets up good policy…the notion [is] that we are not going to design or make assumptions about preferences and needs is very important to us,” said Cortés-Vázquez. “You need the older person’s voice in this situation.”
She points to the city’s more diverse aging population, with a 22% growth of older Black New Yorkers from 2010 to 2021. Older Hispanic and Asian populations grew by even larger percentages in the city in the same timespan. But many Department for the Aging services were designed before such demographic changes. Cortés-Vázquez believes the survey will update the agency’s understanding to better reflect the city’s burgeoning nonwhite population ages 60 and over.
With growing diversity comes what the Commissioner calls a “new polyglot.” The survey is offered in 11 different languages including Spanish and Haitian Creole. Roughly half of seniors do not speak English at home.
In the past, community feedback helped the Department of Aging surmise policy and services like the universal design concepts, which expanded housing design beyond ADA to accommodate a wide array of New Yorkers including older residents with accessibility and comfort. Recently, the agency, partnering with the Department of Transportation, enlisted older New Yorkers to audit traffic safety after seniors made up almost half of the city’s pedestrian fatalities. Directly hearing from those residents allowed the city to identify which crosswalks, traffic lights and sidewalks needed to be addressed to keep them safe on the streets.
A groundswell of support follows the Department for the Aging as the agency faced a $20 million budget last year and there are concerns that an even bigger funding slash might be on the horizon.
“The last couple of weeks, we’ve had lots of advocates talking about the city’s commitment to age-inclusivity and how that should be realized,” Cortés-Vázquez said. “One of the ways they’ve been talking about it is through the budget and if we’re talking about the needs and wants and preferences of older adults, then we need to be prepared to have those services. That’s why this is so tied into some of the advocacy.”
The survey will remain open until September. While participation is anonymous, those interested can enter their information for a $50 gift card drawing in October.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.