« Back to News Archive

Survey Says... Delaware Cares About Quality of Life Issues (May 14, 2005)

Delaware County residents are positive about their living environment and would recommend the area to others, but they have concerns about overdevelopment and several health care and social service issues that affect community and family. These are among the results of a the DelawareCares community assessment led by United Way of Delaware County and the Council for Older Adults, in partnership with the Delaware General Health District – Board of Health, Delaware Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board, Grady Hospital and Verizon.

The data were compiled from household phone surveys of randomly selected residents which were conducted as the research phase of DelawareCares, a community assessment process which seeks residents’ input on our area’s most pressing human service needs. DelawareCares task force members will analyze and match those needs over the coming months, responding with a “blueprint of assets” including resources in housing, education, transportation, health care services and other appropriate resources that address the needs identified in the survey.

The survey showed a highly educated population in Delaware County, with 42 percent or higher of sampled residents holding at least a bachelor’s degree. Overall, the group identified overdevelopment and transportation issues, the high cost of health care, and the costly impact of social service problems as the top concerns for our community.

Family difficulties also were cited with regularity. The top concerns identified were anxiety, stress and depression, followed by the affordability of health care, with a specific concern in 11 percent households related to caregiving.

Particularly in southern Delaware County, residents said the area was a nice place to live and that its positive features outweigh the negatives. Overdevelopment – the top concern related to community problems – was seen by 56 percent of respondents as a “very serious or moderately serious problem.” Road conditions and traffic, inadequate public transportation, availability of recreational opportunities for youth, overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of affordable housing were other key concerns cited by those sampled.

Household income correlates closely with family and community concerns, the survey indicated. Lower-income households were more likely to cite the affordability and accessibility of basic health care services as a serious problem. These respondents were more likely to be located in Delaware City or northern townships, and typically had education levels of a high school diploma or less.

Similarly, a shortage of affordable housing was cited most frequently as a key concern by those who had less education and had annual household incomes between $50,000 and $75,000.

Residents of Delaware City and northern townships who were under age 30 most frequently cited as a key concern the lack of adequate recreational and educational opportunities for youth.

With the leadership of United Way and its partners, the survey was conducted by professional researchers, using stratified random sampling to adequately represent Delaware City and northern townships. Results were weighted using census data to accurately reflect the county’s adult population.

Results from the surveys and other data collection methods will be shared at public forums in January and will be available on a Web site dedicated to the project: www.delawarecares.org. A link to the DelawareCares site is available also on United Way’s Web site: www.liveuniteddelawarecounty.org.

“During the next month, the DelawareCares Visioning Committee will analyze the data and begin its work of planning responsive initiatives,” said United Way President Katherine Tatterson. The committee is chaired by Steve Hedge of the Delaware Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board.

The Visioning Committee will focus its efforts on:

• Identifying new opportunities for community improvement
• Influencing public policy
• Supporting proposals for redesigning systems and programs
• Helping leaders make informed decisions on the distribution of new resources and redistribution of existing resources
• Documenting the need for increasing resources

The last community assessment was conducted five years ago with United Way’s leadership. It led to the creation of an Affordable Housing Task Force, development of a countywide set of health and human service indicators, and increased inter-agency collaboration in the county.