Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services

Community Assessment

Step 5: Plan for Your Future

A plan well begun is a plan half done.
- Anonymous

Congratulations! Your Aging Texas Well Community Assessment Team has worked hard to evaluate your current infrastructure and readiness for an aging future. By now, you have gained insight into your capacity to support older adults and their families across all areas critical to Aging Texas Well. During this process, you have seen the strengths of your communities, as well as the areas in which infrastructure could be stronger.

Don’t stop now. You must now translate what you have learned into ACTION. Obviously, you may not be able to tackle all your goals and objectives at once. In establishing your community priorities, consider:

  • What is the most important concern to residents?
  • What is the most feasible area to address at this time given the political and economic climate?
  • What specific action needs to be taken?
  • Who needs to be involved?

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The Six 'Ps' of Progress Toward Becoming an Aging Texas Well Community

  1. Policy must be translated into action. Your work is not complete until older residents have realized the benefits from the policy changes. Stick with the process until recommendations have been properly implemented.

  2. Public funds are not the only answer. With limited public resources, communities must seek other creative solutions to obtain necessary funding. Consider grant opportunities, public/private partnerships, or collaborating with other community organizations to pool resources and pursue goals.

  3. Public awareness is an important strategy. Older residents cannot benefit from the supportive infrastructure unless they are aware of the services and opportunities available to them. Include outreach and a public awareness plan in the implementation of follow-up.

  4. Partners are a key to success. It is evident that building community capacity for an aging Texas requires that many elements of the community work together. Representatives from government, advocacy, public, and private entities must work together to collectively support older adults and their families.

  5. Planning processes are a means to seek change. The process of conducting an Aging Texas Well Community Assessment and creating an Action Plan for the future can be challenging, resource consuming, and time intensive. However, this process allows community leaders to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the community infrastructure and collectively identify needed changes. The goals and objectives outlined in the Aging Texas Well Community Plan provide communities with structure and direction that serves to enhance successful outcomes.

  6. Progress is incremental. Evaluation is the key to successful community capacity building. At times, progress may seem slow. It is important to recognize and celebrate the achievement of small goals as you take the steps necessary to build your aging friendly infrastructure.

Retirement Community Initiative: Tyler Retirement Community

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Action Planning Guidelines: Writing Specific Objective Statements for Effective Planning

Why be specific? Global statements such as "Develop high-speed rail transportation" and "Develop affordable health care for all" work as overall goal statements but can focus attention on national legislation or policies needed rather than on local actions that can be accomplished. Of course there are local actions associated with the two global statements above, such as "Write your legislator."

Global statements require many smaller objectives to get the job done so staying specific can help. Consider: "Provide educational programs for older adults that include: health care consumerism, healthy lifestyles, medication use, technology use, etc". Is this something you can do locally? Can you pick out a part that can be done?

A specific objective tells the reader who, what, how, and when.

  • WHO: Older adults.
  • WHAT: Will increase knowledge and skills in health care consumerism related to healthy lifestyles, technology use, and medications.
  • HOW: Through participating in a one-day seminar at Howdy Senior Center.
  • WHEN: In the fall of 2004.

You can even be more specific by identifying WHAT aspects of healthy lifestyles, medications, and technology use are critical: improved nutrition and physical activity; medication review by health provider and pharmacist; and using the computer to search out reliable, useful health information on the Internet. A Specific Objective will be easier to determine the impacts or outcomes you expect for success.

Consider this instead: "Provide hospice services in as many communities as possible." Make this more specific: "Increase the number of hospice services in Texas (or in a specific region where hospice services have not been developed) though an educational awareness campaign to communities next spring." You can determine success by deciding the increase you want.

Consider this instead: "Control taxes for seniors on fixed incomes" Can you write a specific objective? "Six counties in Longhorn AAA Region will pass initiatives to limit county taxes on seniors with incomes under $___ during 2005."

Sample action plans

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The Next Steps

  1. Understand the Key Principles of Community Assessment
  2. Define your Community
  3. Form A Community Assessment Team
  4. Use the ATW Community Assessment Survey
  5. Take Action and Plan for Your Future

Related Links

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For more information about the Aging Texas Well Initiative, please contact Michael Wilson, PhD.

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Updated: November 2, 2007