Survey Of Old People’s Housing Needs In City

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29767, 9 March 1962, Page 15

Survey Of Old People’s Housing Needs In City

The survey team which is investigating old people’s accommodation needs, planned to be in Christchurch immediately after Easter, a Health Department spokesman said yesterday. The team hopes to be in Timaru about mid-April, and in Blenheim. Nelson and Greymouth in that order during the first half of May.

Members of the team will call on old people in their homes. They will ask no questions about finance, and the report forms on which answers are recorded will be burnt once the information has been used by the statisticians. No permanent record will be made of names or addresses. The team includes staff members of the Health and Social Security departments and of the Social Sciences School of Victoria University of Wellington. The survey has been completed in the sxithem and central areas of the North Island and will begin on Monday in Auckland.

The persons to be interviewed have been chosen by the Department of Statistics by a random sampling method. Probably about 4000 will be interviewed through New Zealand, 550 of them in Christchurch. The team to visit this city will be about a dozen strong, and will stay about six days. “The results of this survey should, be very valuable indeed in helping us to plan for the future.” the Minister of Health and of Social Security (Mr McKay) said in Christchurch yesterday. "We are anxious to do all we can to help the old folk, but we want to make sure that our effort is going where it is most needed. This survey will help to tell us whether it is.”

Mr McKay, who on Wednesday evening met committee members of the Christchurch Aged People’s Welfare Council, said he was very impressed with the work going on in Christchurch for the comfort of the elderly. “The volume of work done for old people by voluntary organisations in this city is quite fantastic,” he said. Even so, more might have to be done in certain directions, and the personal survey should help to indicate anything that might be required.