2004 AARP North Dakota Member Survey: Support Services

To learn how AARP members in North Dakota feel about Support Services, a random sample of 1,321 members was surveyed by mail with the following results:

• Four in ten have used support services or have a family member or friend who has used support services in the past five years.
  
• Over half of those who used support services lived at home while receiving visits from skilled health care professionals, while 47 percent lived in a nursing home, and 44 percent lived at home with the help of family and friends.
  
• Three in five are extremely concerned with staying independent as they age, and over half are extremely concerned with having choices in long-term care.
  
• More than nine in ten North Dakota members rate having a range of support services available in their community to be very or somewhat important.
  
• Almost half think the cost of support services should be shared between the individual and the government.
  
• More than three in four think it is important to provide funding to make support services widely available, even if it means an increase in taxes.
  
• Three-fourths think it should be a top or high priority for AARP North Dakota to work to ensure that older persons have easy assess to a high-quality long-term care support system that allows consumers to choose from a variety of services that best meet their needs.

The survey was conducted between February and March 2004 by FGI, Inc., and the report prepared by David Cicero of AARP Knowledge Management. (31 pages)