We Want to Know What You Think

For many years AARP has surveyed our members to gauge their opinions and ideas about the various issues upon which we advocate on their behalf. Member mail-in and telephone surveys have been a staple of AARP policy analysis for decades. 

Yet, there have been times when we’ve been surprised to find ourselves at odds with our members on key Federal legislative issues, even after extensive polling of member opinion. Our decision  to support efforts to add prescription drugs to Medicare in 2006 was surprisingly unpopular with many members, even though our research showed that AARP members wanted an Rx drug benefit in Medicare. And more recently, though we polled members extensively and collected over one million-and-a-half pledges in support—we found that there were a fair number of members disappointed in our decision to support the health care reform bill that is now law. This despite the fact that several key elements in the new law are beneficial to older adults—including but are not limited to new preventative care coverage in Medicare and more affordable health care options for those  50-64 not covered by an employer plan. Not to mention the fact that 32 million Americans, many of whom are the children and grandchildren of our members, now have access to affordable health care as a result of this law.

This despite the fact that we were successful in negotiating several key elements in the new law which are beneficial to older adults — including but are not limited to new preventative care coverage in Medicare and more affordable health care options for members 50-64 not covered by an employer plan. Not to mention the fact that 32 million Americans, many of whom are the children and grandchildren of our members, now have access to affordable health care as a result of this law.

We can accept that taking positions on difficult issues is not always popular, but we always want our members to feel that we’ve engaged them in communicating their opinions—whether it’s a Federal legislative issue or a local community resource you’d like to see from us. Clearly, traditional forms of research and communication are not enough. So AARP Nevada is expanding our member outreach to include additional ways for members to communicate their thoughts with us—from unscientific online member surveys such as this (Password: Nevadamember) to the constant opportunity for dialogue offered through our new Facebook page, to providing additional Nevada contact information in every email and mailing the Nevada office sends your way.

What do you want from the AARP Nevada State Office?

We’re asking. And we really want to know. So please take the time to respond to our brief online survey (Password: Nevadamember). Our six-person staff and 400+ member volunteers in Nevada are your local AARP resources and we’re here to serve your interests. In the survey we ask a series of questions on your knowledge of our work, your preferences regarding communication and delivery style of AARP information, and your thoughts about future work in Nevada. Please feel free to forward this article, and/or the survey link and password listed in the “other resources” above with other AARP members in Nevada. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Questions? Please call the AARP Nevada office toll free at 1-866-389-5652.