Introduction to Act One
This Act will help you assess the needs, successes, issues, and demographics of your community’s older population. Upon completion of this Act, your Development Team will have:
- An accurate understanding of the population of the area to be served based on pre-existing data sources and a plan to engage specific demographics
- A robust dataset of needs, challenges, and desires of area residents gathered through surveys, listening sessions, and other data-gathering instruments.
- A set of research reports that highlight major themes and descriptive statistics from the dataset
Step 1: Gather Existing Data
Whether you are a longtime resident or a transplant to your area, it is likely that you already have an established understanding of the makeup of your community. This section will help you make sure the picture you have of your area’s population is accurate and complete. Use the Population Profile Template to guide your work.
If you have deep roots in your area, use this exercise to view your community through new eyes. Take care to allow the picture to emerge from the data, rather than using the data to create the picture you want.
The Population Profile Template contains a list of core demographic indicators to get you started – expand on this list as needed to capture the unique qualities of your community.
Consider the following sources to support your data collection:
- Census data: For basic demographic data, the U.S. Census is the best place to start. Focus on “small area” data to get granular analysis at the local level.
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI): The SVI provides at-a-glance indicators and estimates of social determinants of health, down to the county level.
- Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS): This federal data source provides information on Medicaid eligibility and enrollment.
- Existing Plans: It is likely that other planners have gathered data, conducted surveys, and gathered stakeholder feedback in support of their efforts that could benefit your Local MPA.
- Aging-Specific Data: The CDC’s Healthy Aging Data Portal, The Administration for Community Living’s (ACL’s) Profile of Older Americans, and AARP’s datasets and research tools provide context regarding older adults.
- Pennsylvania-Specific Data: Penn State Data Center, the Center for Rural PA, and the Commonwealth’s Open Data Portal provide a level of detail that may not be available in federal datasets.
Step 2: Explore the 8 Domains of Livability Framework
To write a great Local MPA, you will need to collect data on a range of topics that impact the lived experience of aging in your community. Picture an older person (or any person) going through their week: everything from healthcare access, to grocery shopping, to hiring a handyman, to recreational opportunities is important to their wellbeing, along with everything in between. The 8 Domains of Livability framework provides a robust, multisector assessment schema that is easy for community members to understand. This section introduces the framework.
Tool Spotlight: Population Profile Template
The Population Profile Template helps you create an accurate picture of your area's current demographics, compare key indicators across the state, and assess how demographics are shifting over time.
This data will inform your public engagement, research, and ultimately your Local MPA draft.
8 Domains of Livability
The 8 Domains of Livability assessment framework is used by more than 1,000 towns, cities, counties, and states nationwide who make up the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. It was also the framework used to develop Aging Our Way, PA. The framework relies on 8 interacting domains to create a holistic picture of day-to-day life for community members across the lifespan.
Healthy communities have plenty of indoor and outdoor spaces to gather, work, and play. This domain addresses the availability, accessibility, and welcoming aspects of green spaces and public buildings.
While most Americans do drive, nearly all of us will experience a time when driving isn’t an option. The transportation domain addresses traffic calming, active transportation, public transit options, medical transport, sidewalks, and more, to ensure safety and mobility for drivers and non-drivers alike.
The vast majority of older adults want to reside in their current home or community for as long as possible. This domain focuses on the availability, accessibility, affordability, safety, and security of housing.
Social participation is a key indicator of longevity. This domain measures opportunities for people of all ages to socialize, and the availability of activities that are accessible, fun, and inclusive.
Communities are healthy and whole when all people are valued for their unique gifts. This domain focuses on the degree to which older adults of varying backgrounds feel welcome to share what they have to offer.
A strong community encourages people of all ages to be active contributors. This domain addresses the ability of older adults to continue supporting their communities through paid work, volunteering, and civic opportunities.
Like people of every age, all older adults rely on their communities for help at some point or another. This domain examines whether community and health care is available, accessible, and affordable.
Communication is constantly changing. This domain assesses the extent to which necessary information is shared through a variety of methods, in ways that are easy to understand, from trustworthy sources.
Step 3: Develop Data Collection Instruments
Now that you have a good understanding of the 8 Domains of Livability, it’s time to use the framework to collect data from your community. It is essential that your data collection instruments are thorough and well-conceived: the information you gather from community members will be the primary driver of your planning process.
The data collection instruments provided below are the same ones used in Aging Our Way, PA, adapted for use at the local level.
Quantitative Data: Age-Friendly Community Survey
The Age-Friendly Community Survey collects quantitative data in each of the 8 Domains of Livability to answer the question: “What do residents think about where they live, how they live — and how they want to live?”
AARP developed the Survey to support their network of Age-Friendly Communities. Nearly 1,000 communities nationwide have used the Survey to gather data for their Age-Friendly Action Plans. The Survey is therefore a refined instrument, and communities that use it contribute to and benefit from a robust, standardized dataset.
If your community intends to join the Age-Friendly Community network as part of your Local MPA, reach out to AARP. Their Livable Communities team will provide you with support with the Survey, including digital access, customization, data analysis, and more. If you don’t intend to join the network, you can download the Survey as a PDF.
Qualitative Data: Listening Session Template
While quantitative data is important to understanding the needs of your community, qualitative data adds the human context that makes the numbers make sense. The Listening Session Template uses the 8 Domains of Livability to create a set of approachable, open-ended questions designed to generate lively discussion.
While the Aging Our Way, PA team focused their qualitative outreach on listening sessions, the template could be adapted for use in focus groups, one-on-one interviews, or other qualitative assessment methods. Feel free to adapt based on the unique needs of your community.
Evaluation
It may seem too early to start thinking about how you will evaluate your Local MPA before you’ve even written it. However, this stage in the planning process is the perfect time to proactively plan for successful evaluation. Before finalizing your data collection instruments, familiarize yourself with evaluation models to ensure that the information you collect now contributes to and builds toward a cohesive, participatory, transparent evaluation process. The Landscape Analysis Spreadsheet contains resources on common evaluation models to get you started; when you reach Act VI, you will be glad that you embedded evaluation into your Local MPA from the start.
Tool Spotlight: Listening Session Template
The Listening Session Template is a qualitative assessment tool based on the 8 Domains of Livability Framework.
It is based on the listening session script used in the stakeholder engagement for Aging Our Way, PA, and has been adapted for local use.
Step 4: Engage the Community
Now that you have your data collection instruments, it’s time to make a plan to engage your community. Successful community engagement is key: the more robust and diverse your public engagement process, the stronger your dataset will be. Community members who provide input through the public engagement process will join your support base, building social momentum. Finally, robust community engagement is powerful political capital: the voices of a multitude of older residents may be what sways a reluctant official to endorse the Local MPA.
Use the Public Engagement Plan Template to help you bring your questions to your community to collect a robust body of data from a diverse variety of community members.
Tool Spotlight: Public Engagement Plan Template
Effective public engagement is crucial to obtaining a robust, representative dataset.
The Public Engagement Plan Template helps you build on information and relationships you've already gathered to ensure that you reach your target populations.
Aging Our Way, PA Core Tenet Spotlight: Transparency
More than 20,000 Pennsylvanians contributed input to Aging Our Way, PA, making it a truly stakeholder-driven Plan. Ensuring that your Local MPA process is built by and for your community is crucial to overall success.
Keep transparency at the forefront of the whole process to ensure your Plan is accountable, adaptable, and strong.
Step 5: Analyze Data
You now have a robust dataset from a wide diversity of community members. Now it’s time to analyze your data for use in the rest of the planning process. This section will provide you with tools for qualitative and quantitative data analysis to help you understand your community’s successes, needs, and desires.
Quantitative Data Analysis
The complexity of your quantitative data analysis will vary widely based on your locality. For example, a rural community may have a relatively small sample size that could be analyzed using simple comparisons in a spreadsheet, while a densely-populated urban area may have hundreds or thousands of responses. A few options for quantitative data analysis are:
- AARP Support: If you opted to use the Age-Friendly Community Survey, and your community is joining the Age-Friendly Community Network, we recommend partnering with AARP for quantitative data analysis support, regardless of sample size.
- Partner with a University: Consider seeking quantitative analysis from the social sciences department of a university within your Local MPA footprint.
- Purchase Data Analysis Software: If you opt to handle quantitative analysis in-house, consider purchasing data analysis software such as Qualtrics to make the process easier.
Your listening session data is likely richly descriptive and covers a variety of topics, some more expected than others. Use the Thematic Analysis Template to turn your public listening session comments into legible data to inform your policy initiatives.
Thematic analysis is a robust, multi-step data analysis process that aims to allow themes to emerge from thick descriptive data. Among its most important concepts is “goal-free evaluation”: that is, allowing theories to arise from data rather than fitting the data to a theory. This method of qualitative analysis will create a set of themes from your Listening Session data that are specific and categorizable enough to be legible to your entire Development Team, yet firmly grounded enough in the source material that the data speaks for itself.
Depending on the size and complexity of your Listening Session dataset, you can develop a thematic analysis regime that is as simple or as sophisticated as necessary. The Thematic Analysis Template maps the method onto the 8 Domains of Livability framework to create a relatively simple analysis regime.
Tool Spotlight: Thematic Analysis Template
The Thematic Analysis Template maps the thematic analysis method onto the 8 Domains of Livability framework to create a simple qualitative analysis regime.
The template is designed to produce a set of legible, resonant themes that are firmly grounded in the data.