Johnson County launches countywide aging survey, seeks municipal data slices

John Gold, chair of the Johnson County Livable Community for Successful Aging (JCLC), briefed local officials at a January 2025 joint entities meeting on a county survey and ongoing efforts to link older residents to services.

The survey, launched in December, asks county residents ages 45 and older about needs tied to eight livability domains and an added emergency‑preparedness section. Gold said the JCLC intends to use survey results to draft an action plan for the county and to share city‑level response slices with municipalities that request them. “The survey is designed to ask county residents that are age 45 and older about their needs related to aging,” Gold said.

The JCLC advises the Johnson County Board of Supervisors and coordinates with Johnson County Social Services. Gold described several active action teams: Dementia Friendly (training businesses and organizations and testing simplified, picture‑based menus at restaurants); a falls‑prevention team; a communications committee that maintains the project website; and a housing action team working on accessory dwelling unit (ADU) guidance. “We advocate for seniors throughout the county, and you’ll see us showing up more and more at city council meetings,” Gold said.

Gold said the policy board has an annual operating budget of roughly $5,000 to support action‑team projects. The county’s outreach plan calls for a phased geographic rollout: initial contacts in the southeast part of the county, then northeast towns, followed by additional outreach through March and April to include North Liberty, Coralville, Iowa City, Tipton and surrounding areas. The survey is available online and on paper and will be offered in multiple languages; Gold listed English, Arabic and Spanish and said QR codes, a phone number and an email address are provided on a mailed postcard.

Gold said the JCLC is pursuing multi‑step certification as an age‑friendly community and will produce an action plan after analyzing survey responses. He encouraged cities to request the localized data if they want a “slice of the pie” showing how their residents responded. Gold also said the board will continue outreach to senior living facilities and community organizations and will present to city councils as rollout schedules align.

During questions, a councilmember asked whether state ADU legislation would affect local work. Gold replied that AARP had circulated draft language and that he would share the draft on request. “There is proposed legislation that AARP is sponsoring and it is on the long list of bills being considered,” he said.

Next steps Gold described included completing survey analysis, drafting recommendations for the county and sharing results with municipalities that request local breakdowns. The county will continue to fund small projects from the JCLC budget and support action teams that pilot local interventions.