Older Adults as Key Assets in a Community-Based Participatory Needs Assessment: How Partnering With Older Residents Improves Local Aging Policy and Practice

Abstract

Older adults are often overlooked in decision making processes despite the detrimental effects on their well-being. The representation of older adults in investigations and initiatives is needed so that the issues they face, today and in the future, can be resolved through partnership and their active involvement. The aim of this article is to describe a participatory process for conducting a needs assessment (NA) and the contributions and opportunities of partnering with older adults to shape community services and support for older adults. Data were collected from 1,863 participants in a midwestern county via focus groups, interviews, and surveys. We describe how participatory principles were enacted, the involvement of older adults influenced the design and contributed to making sure hard-to-reach residents’ voices were included. Finally, we discuss the ways in which a community inclusive multi-method strategy can optimize resource allocation, identify pathways to more effective policymaking that is matched to the needs and interests of its oldest residents, and lead to unanticipated benefits. Single method, non-inclusive approaches can obscure the critical context and exclude perspectives of the most burdened and vulnerable, who are most in need of support from their community.