THE USE, IMPACT, AND SERVICE QUALITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING'S TITLE III PROGRAMS

摘要

PROGRAMS/WAIVERS J. Beauchamp, Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, DC In 2005, the Administration on Aging's (AoA) Title III services provided elderly Americans with 140 million home-delivered meals, 3 1 million one-way rides, and millions of hours of respite and other assistance to caregivers.In the same year, AoA fielded the Third National Survey of Program Participants, a randomized survey of 5,000 clients to assess their use and satisfaction with services, and the impact of provided services on clients' wellbeing.Survey results show that AoA clients are among the oldest old and are therefore in much worse health and have lower physical functioning than the overall elderly population in the United States.Results also indicate that clients are quite satisfied with the services they receive; 94 percent of home-delivered meals clients, 98 percent of transportation services clients, and 94 percent of caregivers reported their satisfaction to be good, very good, or excellent.Further, clients noted that services had meaningful impact on their lives, allowing them to continue to live at home for a longer period, maintain a healthier diet, and get to medical appointments and social events more frequently.Despite these high levels of satisfaction and important impacts on quality of life, the survey also identified possible areas for improvement including additional targeting to Hispanic elderly, improvement of some aspects of transportation services, and additional information assistance offered to caregivers.Ways that AoA is already addressing these issues along with detailed study results will be presented at the session.