Frequently asked questions about the Orange County Older Adults Needs Assessment

The OC older adults needs assessment includes information from three different surveys – the OC Older Adults Community Survey, the OC Caregiver Survey and the OC Paid Provider Survey. Efforts were made during the collection of the community survey to receive responses from those not normally included in community surveys such as those who were unhoused or incarcerated.

California recommends counties use the state’s five goals and 23 strategies as a guide for their local plans. Different population perspectives were considered in the three developed surveys – community members, paid providers, and friends or family members providing caregiving to OC older adult residents. The questions within the surveys developed by Advance OC were related to the goals and strategies from the California MPA and were not created or named by the County of Orange.

A convenience targeted sampling method was used to gather responses. Therefore, the results are specific to those who chose to voluntarily answer and cannot be generalized to the larger OC older adult population. The report findings provide insight to the opinions, perspectives, and beliefs of those who chose to participate, which are important to use as a source during the development process of the OC Master Plan on Aging (OCMPA).

Descriptive statistics were used within this report. Therefore, percentages are based on those who selected a specific response option for a question compared to the total participants who chose any of the response options available for that question. Because responses were voluntary, the number of individuals represented in the percentages varies from question to question, including those who chose to disclose their demographic information and city of residence. Subgroup percentages in the report include at least 100 or more participant responses. This method allows for meaningful comparisons to be made between groups (i.e., Group A compared to Group B), by limiting the ability for a single respondent to represent several percentage points and, thus, skew the results. The resulting percentages are more comparable as they can be referenced to about x participants out of every 100. In addition, inferential statistics were not included in the report; therefore, the report does not reflect statistically significant findings or population estimates.

It is normal for a delay between when a survey is administered to when findings are released given the time it takes to validate responses and develop reports. The percentages within the report give an indication of a large sampling of OC older adults’ experiences, opinions and perceptions. It is important to consider the sample demographics compared to OC demographics, provided on pages 10-12 within the report to understand the participant sample. Findings within the report can be cross validated by comparing additional similar data sources such as those from other Counties and/or those listed in the Appendix. This data will not be the only source of information in the development of the OCMPA as there will be consideration of additional data sources.

Future assessments are planned to be based on assessing the goals and strategies in the OCMPA and therefore the findings within the report do not provide baseline information. The report provides a starting point and valuable insight into how OC residents feel OC is doing in relation to the CA Goals and strategies to better inform the development of the OCMPA.

The findings within the report, along with other sources of information, will be integrated in the initial development of the OCMPA which will focus on County’s roles and efforts. As the County is not the only entity providing services for older adults, community-based organizations, medical plans and local government can also draw from the community voices reflected in this report. The findings within the report can be used to help identify areas of need partner agencies and entities may be able to address as they evaluate the capacity and types of services they currently provide for OC’s older adults.