Research » MECK60+ Needs Assessment 2019 » Executive Summary of MECK60+

Executive Summary of MECK60+

Findings from the 2018/2019 Meck60+ survey addressing the health and service needs of people 60 and older in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC *

Executive Summary

 

Section 1: Demographics * (Sample N = 750 adults 60+)

  • Education
    • Caucasians more likely to complete graduate degrees (BA, Master) than African Americans (High School/Associate degree) and Latinos (less than High School).
    • Men more likely to complete graduate degrees than females (High School/Associate).
  • Income
    • Average annual family income is in the range of $30,000 to $45,000
    • Caucasians report higher level of income than African Americans and Latinos.
    • Women report lower family income than men do.
  • Living Arrangements
    • About 43% of the respondents report that they live alone.
    • Women more likely to live alone (49%) than men (29%).
    • African Americans more likely to live alone (52%) than Caucasians (42%) & Latinos (20%).

Section 2: Health and Service Use* (Sample N = 750 adults 60+)

 

  • Functional Health
    • About 39% of participants reported that their health (physical or mental) troubles limit their everyday activities.
    • Women and minority groups report higher average of days with health troubles than men and Caucasians.
  • Disability
    • Participants report difficulties with activity of daily living primarily with their ability to walk, and climb stairs (42.8%).
    • Women and minority groups report higher levels of health difficulties than men and Caucasians.
  • Health Risk Behaviors
      • Participants report that they do not currently smoke (95.5%), and use cart seat belt (94.7%).
      • Women and minority groups engage less in low-intensity or high-intensity exercise.
  • Health Chronic Conditions
    • Participants report on average having two health chronic conditions. The most prevalent being Hypertension (64.9%) and Arthritis (54.5%), followed by Diabetes (26.9%) and Cancer (19.4%).
    • Women and minority groups report higher average number of health chronic conditions than men and Caucasians.
  • Health Care Coverage
    • Most participants report having health care (92%), however few offer Vision (54%), Dental (45%) or Mental Health services (39%).
    • Women and minority groups report higher levels of health difficulties than men and Caucasians.
  • Medical Service Use
    • About 40.5% of participants report using the Emergency room/Hospital service in the past year.
    • Very few (17%) use or visit a Mental Health Specialist in the last 12 months.
  • Health Chronic Conditions
    • Participants report on average having two chronic conditions. The most prevalent being Hypertension (64.9%) and Arthritis (54.5%), followed by Diabetes (26.9%) and Cancer (19.4%).
    • Women and minority groups report higher average number of chronic conditions than men and Caucasians.
  • Health Care Coverage
    • Most participants report having health care (92%), however few offer Vision (54%), Dental (45%) or Mental Health services (39%).
    • Women and minority groups report higher levels of health difficulties than men and Caucasians.
  • Medical Service Use
    • About 40.5% of participants report using the Emergency room/Hospital service in the past year.
    • Very few (17%) use or visit a Mental Health Specialist in the last 12 months.
  • Health Outcomes

  Depression

    • About one-third of participants score above the clinical depression cut-off index.
    • Women and minority groups report higher average level of depression than men and Caucasians.

 

Perceived Stress

    • Most participants report low levels of perceived stress.
    • Latinos report higher levels of perceived stress than African Americans and Caucasians.

           

Emotional Well-being

    • Most participants (85%) report that their mental health/well-being was good or excellent.
    • Latinos report lower level of mental health than African Americans and Caucasians.

Section 3: Community Ratings * (Sample N = 750 adults 60+)

  • Rating Mecklenburg Community
    • Participants rate Charlotte/Mecklenburg County very positive in terms of a place to live (84.1%) and to retire (75.8%). They recommend to others to live in the County (83.8%) and plan overwhelmingly to remain throughout their retirement in the County (88.3%).
  • Rating Community Attitudes
    • Only half of participants endorse the County “sense of community” as good and very good.
    • Fewer adults endorse as good or very good the County “respect for older adults” (38.4%), “acceptance of diverse older adults” (36.4%) and “community safety” (33.1%).
  • Rating Community Services
    • About two-thirds of participants indicate that overall services are good or excellent (64.2%).
    • However, less than one quarter of them endorse as good or very good the availability of community quality Mental Health Care Services (23.5%).
  • Satisfaction with Community Services
    • The majority of adults indicate that it is easy or very easy to find productive or meaningful activities to do in the County (80%), or meaningful volunteer work (80%).
    • About two-thirds of adults report they are “informed” or “very informed” about services (62%) and that they are familiar or very familiar with services (60%).
    • Only about half of them report that their voices are “sometimes” or “always” heard (50.6%).
  • Community Participation
    • Only about one third of participants (32.5%) reported to have participated as volunteer in activities for older adults in the County during the previous year.
    • A fewer number of older adults declared (28.6) that they have attended local elected officials or other local public meetings in the County

 

  • Use of Community Services
    • Use of Community Services during las 12 months among adults in the sample was highest for attendance of Church activities (70.6%), followed by use of Public Libraries (55.3%), Parks and Recreation Centers (50.5%), and the Farmer’s Market (47.5%).
    • Adults report the lowest use of services for Veterans Administration (8.3%), Legal Help Services (7.8%), Housing Authority (5.2%), Adult Day Care Center (3.4%), and Mental Health Services (3.4%).
    • Women are more likely to attend Church, Senior Centers and Nutritional Sites than men do.
    • Caucasians report higher attendance to Public Libraries than minority groups.
    • African Americans exhibit higher attendance to Church activities, Senior Centers and Nutritional programs than the other groups.
    • Latinos express a greater preference for Parks and Recreation Community Centers.

 

Section 4: Family Caregiving * (Sample N = 127)

  • Age of Caregivers
    • Caregivers report an average age of 62.3 years, ranging from 19 to 86.
    • One third of caregivers (N= 38) are younger than 60 in the sample.
  • Caregivers’ Education
    • About half of the sample of Caregivers (N= 63) completed a Graduate Bachelor degree or a Postgraduate Master’s degree.
  • Family Caregivers’ Income
    • Average annual family income is in the range of $45,000 to $59,000.
    • Caucasian caregivers report higher level of income than African Americans and Latinos.
  • Family Relationship with Care-recipient
    • Most of the caregivers in the sample provide care to parents (N=54, 43.5%), and spouses (N=52, 42%), followed by adult children and others (N=18, 14%).
  • Living Arrangement
    • Two-thirds of care-recipients live with their caregivers (N =81, 63.8%), a few with family members (N= 22, 17.3%), in nursing care (N= 15, 11.8%), or live by themselves (N= 9, 7.1%).
  • Length of Caregiving
    • Two-thirds of caregivers provide care between one and five years (N= 59, 46.8%).  About one third provide six or more years (N= 45, 35.8%), and a few care for a year or less (N= 22, 17.5%).
  • Caregiving Interference on Health and Work
    • Most caregivers report that their health does not interfere with their ability to provide care (N= 59, 72.8%), but others indicate that their health interferes moderately or a lot (N= 22, 27.1%).
    • Most caregivers do not make changes at work because of their caregiving (N= 86, 70%), but others report a reduction/termination of work due to their caregiving duties (N= 38, 31%).
  • Care-recipient Health: Chronic Conditions
    • Two-thirds of care-recipients report having at least 3 health chronic conditions (N= 77, 60.6%).
    • Most care-recipients have Hypertension (66.9%) and Arthritis (58.9%). About half of caregivers provide care to Dementia relatives (48.8%) followed by Depression (34.9%), Diabetes (37.7%) and Cancer (17.6%).
  • Care-recipient ADL/IADL Needs
    • Caregivers assist their loves ones primarily with going shopping, visiting the doctor (90.6%), preparing meals (88.9%), financial matters (84.3%), managing care services (79%), clinical care (73.8%) and personal activities of daily living such as dressing, eating, bathing (65.3%).
  • Amount of Care provided by Caregiving
    • Caregivers provide moderate to high levels of care to their loved ones (Index of IADL/ADL).
  • Medical and Financial Planning
    • Most caregivers report that their loved one has a legal guardian or power of appointment for health related issues (67.5%), medications (68.3%), financial issues (69%), and to manage their estate (65.3%).
    • Caregivers report that their care-recipient has an Advance Medical or Psychiatric Directive (53.2%), Durable Power of Attorney (64.8%), and a Last Will and Testament (62.7%).
  • Caregiver Perceived Neglect or Abuse
    • The risk perceived by caregivers of neglect of abused by anyone providing help to their loved ones is higher for neglecting care for the care-recipient (38.5%), trying to force them to do things that did not want (36.6%), taking money away without permission (35%), and making the care-recipient to feel bad, 25.2%).
  • Caregiver Service Use
    • Most caregivers report that in the past year they visited the doctor (86.9%) and only about one-third visit the Hospital/Emergency room (34.1%).
    • Use of community services was very low ranging from Senior Centers and Adult Day Care (18%) to Short-Stay in Nursing Care (6.6%).
  • Caregiver Use of Paid Services
    • Caregivers report low level of use of paid services (in the past months) regarding homemaker services (30.7%), home health services (23.6%), non-medical personal care (24.4%), and adult day care services (15.7%)

 

Dementia Caregivers Support

  • Caregiver Help with Care
    • Support from people to care is higher for non-dementia caregivers than for dementia caregivers.
    • Dementia caregivers use adult care services more than non-dementia caregivers do.
  • Caregiver Help with ADL/IADL Needs
    • Dementia caregivers receive high level of help with IADL/ADL activities than non-dementia caregivers.
  • Caregiver Information about Services
    • Dementia caregivers receive information about programs and services (education, training, managing care) more often than non-dementia caregivers.

Dementia Caregivers Health Outcomes

 

  • Caregiver Nursing Home Placement
    • Dementia caregivers are more likely to place their care-recipient in nursing care than non-dementia caregivers do. More so if the care-recipient health will worsen.
  • Caregiver Health Outcomes
    • Dementia caregivers report higher levels of negative health outcomes than non-dementia caregivers for outcomes such as:
            • Depression
            • Perceived strain
            • Subjective stress
            • Burden
            • Stigma

Overall, these findings highlight the need to have a broader conversation with seniors, City and County officials, and community agencies and organizations providing services and advocating for seniors, to develop a comprehensive plan to support people of all ages, and find strategies to build intergenerational connections between older adults, youth, and children in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC.

  • Data from a sample of 750 Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans and Latinos 60 and older, and a sample of 130 family caregivers (Charts 120-181).