National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants

Results of Prior National Surveys of
OAA Participants

Background

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) requires Federal agencies to use performance measurement, particularly outcome measurement, to improve the performance of Federal programs. Further, the Office of Management and Budget has introduced the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), which they use to evaluate the performance of Federal programs. The PART places additional emphasis on assessing program performance through outcome measurement.

Since 2002, ACL/AoA has been conducting national surveys of recipients of select Title III services for the purpose of obtaining performance outcome measurement information that is used in ACL/AoA's GPRA plan and PART assessment. The survey instruments focus on consumer assessment of service quality and consumer-reported outcomes. The instruments also measure special needs and characteristics of the people who receive services such as physical and social functioning. The First National Pilot Survey was conducted from November 2002 – February 2003 with sample surveys of recipients of home-delivered, meals, congregate meals, transportation services, homemaker services, information and referral/assistance, and caregivers of select OAA service recipients.

Recent versions of the NSOAAP instrument and survey results can be found on ACL's Aging, Independence, and Disability Program Data Portal .