A survey of health needs of older adults in northwest Johnson County, Iowa.

In 1975, the 1972 survey by the DuPage County, Illinois, Health Department (Managan et al. 1974) was replicated in an eight-township area of Johnson County, Iowa, to compare and document areas of nursing needs for the nursing division of a rural health center and to determine if the Illinois findings were generalizable to a setting which included both similarities and differences. The DuPage County population was urban, while the Johnson County population had a strong farm background and the majority of the subjects still resided on a farm. The DuPage County sample of 1,466 represented approximately 5 percent of the elderly population. The sample size in the Johnson County study was only 82; however, it represented approximately 10 percent of the elderly in the eight townships of the study area. The method of interviewing in the resident's homes was replicated as was DuPage's method of statistical analysis. Comparison of data from the two counties showed striking similarities in all parameters: health condition, physical functioning accessibility of medical care, social isolation, and service needs. Both studies found need for additional health services. A multiple disciplinary service approach to health needs would assist the elderly to remain in their own homes longer and to improve the quality of their lives. In the Iowa study, four questions to determine satisfaction with present living facilities and with adequacy of income for needed medical and dental costs were added. When these answers were compared to two previous Iowa studies, findings were similar.