Town-Wide Survey
The yellow Town-wide survey that was mailed to each mail recipient is in the process of being tallied. Here are some preliminary findings:
There are some interesting findings despite the few surveys returned.
Of the 192 households responding, 58 (30%) reported a household member with some disability with 20 households (10%) reporting more than one type of disability (34% of households reporting some type of disability reported multiple types). Fifteen percent of households responding (28 households) reported a mobility-related disability. About eight percent of households (15 households) reported a vision-related disability. Twenty-one households (11%) who responded reported hearing impairment as a disability. Finally, seven households (4%) who responded reported an emotional disability. This is a high number considering that many individuals are not comfortable disclosing a disabling emotional condition and, in many cases, individuals do not recognize an emotional condition as disabling. Such a finding is important to consider in that individuals suffering from emotional conditions such a depression, PTSD and other conditions often have difficulty responding appropriately in emergency situations.
Of all the households reporting, 10 households (5%) in all reported owning a generator. Of those households reporting some form of disability, 16 (28 %) used an electrical apparatus though only 5% (3 households) had a generator in case of a power outage. About 5% (2) of those households reporting disability with no use of an electrical apparatus had a generator.
Of the households responding, 28% (53 households) reported utilizing the Library’s services, 8% (15 households) reported utilizing veteran’s services, 39% (75 households) reported utilizing the services of the Council on Aging and 32% (61 households) reported utilizing the services of the Town Nurse. Fifty-six (29%) of the households responding reported utilizing two or more of the services listed. Thirty-nine of the households with a disables resident (67%) reported utilizing at least one of the services listed. It is important to note that those utilizing services are more likely to respond to such a survey for a variety of reasons (e.g., more likely to be 65 or older, more likely to have a disability).
Only seven respondents (4%) were interested in attending an open meeting in regards to this topic; five of these respondents reported a disabled individual in the household. Thus, fewer than nine percent of those with a disability were willing to participate, less than two percent of those in a household without a disabled individual were willing to participate.