The Questionnaire
A questionnaire was developed in cooperation with the provincial advisory board of older people, local organisations of older people and the provincial and local authorities. This steering group decided on the themes that ought to be included, while the scientific team of the Free University of Brussels and the University College Ghent identified the scientific measures for each theme. After a lengthy process of negotiating, commenting and adapting, the questionnaire now covers 24 pages.
As the major objective of the survey is to obtain information from older people on their perceptions of diverse aspects of daily life, the structured questionnaire collects information on a wide array of issues, including
- socio-demographic characteristics
- physical health, care, frequency of falling
- housing conditions
- public space
- neighbourhood involvement
- feelings of unsafety
- elder abuse
- psychological well-being
- social networks (quantity, satisfaction and support)
- loneliness
- leisure activities
- social, cultural and political participation, political satisfaction
- mobility
- reasons for retirement
- …