GUELPH – An older adult needs survey, conducted by the Guelph Wellington Senior’s Association, offers a glimpse into the lives and needs of older adults in Guelph and Wellington County.
The survey, conducted between August and October of 2024, touches on topics such as social media usage, driving and transportation and food security.
The survey findings were presented to the public on Nov. 24 at the Evergreen Seniors Centre in Guelph.
Demographics
A total of 2,249 people agreed to take the survey, with a 73 per cent completion rate. Of those who completed the survey, 75% were female and 25% were male. The most prevalent age group to complete the survey was 65 to 75, with the oldest participant being 94.
According to the results, 70.7% of respondents reside in the city of Guelph and 29.3% reside in Wellington County; 68% have lived in the Guelph and Wellington area for at least 21 years.
A total of 873 people from Wellington County completed the survey including;
– 282 from Centre Wellington;
– 87 from Erin;
– 332 from Guelph/Eramosa;
– 52 from Puslinch;
– 27 from Mapleton;
– 31 from Minto; and
– 62 from Wellington North.
Of all respondents, 88% reported living alone or with a partner independently; 67% live in their own homes; and 21% live in an apartment.
Connected to community
Survey participants were asked to rate their “connectedness to the community,” with 2,147 people answering the question and 102 opting to skip it.
Of those who responded, 10% rated their connection to the community very strong, 30% responded strong, 40% fair, 13% weak, 5% very weak and just under 5% chose “no opinion.”
Respondents were given a comment box to explain their choice.
“The ‘positive’ comments related to connectedness focused primarily on engagement with the community through activities, volunteering and faith-based initiatives. The “neutral” comments did not offer much of substance (e.g., ‘don’t know,’ ‘just do’),” states the survey report.
Of the negative feedback received, difficulty making friends, transportation challenges and difficulty staying in the loop were all cited.
Civic participation and employment
According to survey results, 55.1% of respondents do not volunteer in the community. Asked why, 57.3% said they don’t have time, 14.1% said they have never been asked, 24.9% said they don’t know what they have to offer and 22% said they are not aware of volunteer opportunities.
Asked what might convince them to volunteer in the community, 856 respondents answered, with the top ten themes being;
– personal availability;
– personal time management;
– health and wellness;
– social connection;
– personal interest;
– volunteer opportunity awareness;
– retirement and life stage;
– family and caregiving responsibilities;
– skill contribution; and
– community engagement.
In terms of employment, approximately 15% of respondents said they needed to work for money, under 5% said they needed to work for other reasons such as socialization, just under 10% said they want to work for financial reasons, just under 20% said they want to work for other reasons, 21% preferred not to answer and over 30% selected the “other” option.
Of those who answered other, most indicated that they were retired and/or they volunteered in the community.
Respect and socialization
Respondents were asked a series of questions with respect to isolation and loneliness as part of the survey.
Asked if they felt they lack companionship, 44.2% responded “never,” 39.8% responded “sometimes,” 10.5% responded “often”, 2.4% responded “always” and 3.1% responded “no opinion”.
Asked if they were dependent on their children, 62.8% responded “never,” 24.8% responded “sometimes,” 3.2% responded “often,” 0.9% responded “always” and 9% responded “no opinion.”
With respect to whether people felt their opinions are valued by those who make decisions that affect them and the community, 40% indicated “sometimes,” 31% said “yes,” 17% said “no” and 12% had no opinion.
About 44% of respondents also indicated that they “agree” that ageism exists in their communities; 12% indicated they “strongly agree” and 8% stated they disagree.
Food security
“Several aspects of this issue were examined and, overall, access to healthy and affordable food does not appear to be an issue for approximately 80% of respondents,” states the survey report.
Social media and news
According to the survey, just over 95% of respondents use the internet daily. With respect to various internet applications and platforms, people indicated the following regular use, with 20% indicating no use of these”
– nearly 70% use Facebook daily;
– just over 20% use Facetime;
– over 30% use Instagram;
– just under 10% use X (formerly Twitter);
– less than 5% use Snapchat; and
– over 30% use WhatsApp.
The survey also indicated 30% of respondents receive their news via an online newspaper, 26.4% from TV, 20% from social media, 10% from radio and 7.8% from a newspaper.
Asked about what their preferred method of finding out about community happenings, the top three options were: emailed newsletter (28.5%), social media (15.1%) and electronic community services guide (13.7%).
Transportation
The top form of travel reported by respondents was “driving oneself” (84.3%).
A total of 55.2% of respondents reported never having to rely on others for rides, followed by 35.2% saying they only get rides periodically as needed.
With respect to how important respondents felt rural public transit is for seniors in the County of Wellington, the results were:
– extremely important, 51.2%;
– very important, 32.2%;
– moderately important, 11.6%;
– somewhat important, 3.7%; and
– not at all important, 1.4%.
