State needs assessment finds persistent service gaps, low awareness among older and vulnerable adults

Tracy Lee, a manager with the Division of Aging and Adult Services, told the Davis County Senior Services Advisory Board on April 1 that a statewide needs assessment funded by the Administration for Community Living collected nearly 1,000 responses and found largely unchanged needs among older and vulnerable adults compared with a previous 2019 study.

The assessment drew 767 respondents who identified as vulnerable adults (defined for the study as people 60 and older, caregivers of someone 60 or older, or people 18–64 with a disability). Of those, 89 responses were from Davis County. "We had almost a thousand responses," Lee said. "We had 767 who identified as a vulnerable adult ... 89 were from Davis County."

The study used separate surveys for stakeholders (professionals) and for vulnerable adults and caregivers, plus focus groups and interviews. Stakeholder respondents rated mental-health partnerships, health-care providers and Adult Protective Services (APS) as priority collaborators. Stakeholders also cited social isolation, lack of dignity and financial limitations as key barriers to accessing services — particularly in rural…