Carmel commission hears pilot results for AARP age‑friendly community survey

The Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Senior Living met Jan. 22 and received a presentation on a pilot survey intended to support the city’s application for AARP’s Age‑Friendly Community designation.

Dr. Fairley, a researcher working with Indiana University-affiliated health data, told commissioners the pilot distributed about 250 paper surveys at a December “Age Friendly BRAIN” conference and received 82 usable returns (one respondent listed a Zionsville address and was excluded), a return rate the presenter described as roughly 32 percent. Respondents ranged in age from 50 to 94; the sample’s mean age was 73.8 years. Respondents were 59.5 percent female and 96 percent white, and 61 percent reported owning their homes.

The pilot found most respondents want to remain in their current homes as they age, and that driving remains the dominant mode of transportation: 96 percent reported driving themselves as a primary means of getting around. Respondents gave relatively high ratings to parks and sidewalks but lower ratings to the affordability and awareness of home‑care and low‑income housing options; the presenter said 24–36 percent of respondents answered “unsure” on several questions, suggesting gaps in awareness as well as potential service shortfalls.

Summary and why it matters

The pilot was offered as a test of the full AARP Healthy Aging Community Survey instrument; commissioners said a statistically representative, citywide sample is necessary for the AARP designation and for grant competitiveness. Dr. Fairley said the next step is a larger mail survey drawn from a random sample of local patients in the Indiana University Health patient network (INPC), subject to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Commissioners and residents at the meeting pressed for outreach strategies to reach lower‑income and less digitally connected seniors, and for shorter or alternate survey modes to improve response.

Survey design, sample and next steps

Dr. Fairley described the pilot as a tool to test question wording and field logistics rather than to produce definitive prevalence estimates. The researcher acknowledged the pilot sample was skewed toward higher‑income, highly educated respondents and recommended oversampling lower‑income older adults in the full assessment. To obtain a more representative sample, Dr. Fairley and a colleague said they plan to request a random sample drawn from IU Health patient records for Carmel ZIP codes; that plan is contingent on IRB review and data‑access agreements.

Several commissioners and public participants urged alternatives to reach people who do not use the internet or who would not complete a lengthy paper survey. One resident and active Facebook group organizer argued the AARP instrument’s 15 pages deter responses and offered to share a shorter link with the group if a condensed version were available. Dr. Fairley and others explained that AARP’s standardized Healthy Aging survey largely must be used to meet designation requirements, though the commission may add a small number of locality‑specific questions (Carol Applegate said the commission previously reviewed and voted to use the AARP instrument, with the option to add items).

Commissioners and staff also discussed partnering with other local health systems; Dr. Fairley said IU Health is the initial sampling partner but that Ascension and other systems have been contacted and could be included. Andrew Young, Carmel EMS chief, told the commission EMS run data indicate transports split roughly half between IU and Ascension facilities, underscoring the value of multi‑system outreach.

Concerns raised

Public commenters and commissioners criticized the pilot’s representativeness and the length of the AARP form. Dr. Fairley responded that the pilot’s purpose was to identify wording and logistics issues and that a full, mail‑based random sample with possible phone follow‑up and weighting would produce more valid results. Commissioners discussed possible oversampling of lower‑income zip codes, mail versus phone contact, and the resource implications of various modes. Dr. Fairley said a statistician will calculate the final sample size once the commission confirms the analysis goals.

What the commission will do next

Commission leadership said the city has provided initial budget support and the commission will seek IRB approval to proceed with the IU Health sample. Commissioners asked staff to share the AARP survey instrument online so stakeholders can review the exact questions. Dr. Fairley said the team will return when the IRB and sampling plan are finalized and will provide sample‑size estimates and a timeline.

Ending

Commissioners framed the survey as essential to competing for AARP and other grants, and to guiding subcommittees’ work on transportation, housing and health services for older residents. The commission emphasized that the pilot’s results reflect the limited sample and that broader outreach is required before drawing citywide conclusions.