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05/07/2024 11:55 AMThe North Haven Senior Center has released a survey gauging the interests of its visitors on what activities they would like to see the facility hold in the future.
According to program director Mary Higgins, the survey and the following results in the form of programming are meant to meet the needs and interests of seniors returning to the facility for the first time following a period of change with the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think a lot of people’s interests have changed since COVID and we want to keep things fresh and new and not just doing the same things all the time,” said Higgins.
Paper copies of the survey are available at the senior center, and digital copies can be printed on the North Haven town website. Copies of surveys can be dropped off or mailed to the center at 189 Pool Road by Saturday, June 1.
Higgins said placing a digital copy online was a way to reach a new crop of North Haven seniors who are slightly younger than visitors in recent years.
“We were hoping it would reach people who don’t already come here, and then maybe that would give them an incentive. If we’re listening and we put out programs that they’re interested in, then that’ll give them a reason to come here,” she said.
The first question on the survey asks respondents, “How often do you attend the senior center?” The second asks them what events, like bocce, bingo, and Mah Jongg, they already take part in at the facility and what new activities they would like to see provided. The survey is also seeking feedback about arts and crafts, but Higgins said the senior center is looking to do more of it.
“We have somebody who comes in once a month and does a craft, and I’m doing more crafting as well to bring people in,” she said.
Before the survey was released, Higgins said she has already heard requests for new events and activities from seniors in just the one year she has been with the facility.
“I have had people say, ‘Hey, I really liked when we used to do this,’ or ‘We haven’t done this in a while,’” she said. “Putting it in a format that they can put all their ideas down and give them to me, I think has also been helpful for them and for me in that communication.”
The center has been visited by new and younger seniors who are already expressing interest in chair volleyball, a program that will begin this month.
The survey will also help determine the future of the lunch program. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the senior center hosted a daily lunch. Higgins said the program “dwindled” due to COVID and that the center has not seen “enough interest to bring the program back.”
Nonetheless, the question remains on the survey as a way of “trying to either see if there’s more interest that I wasn’t aware of or determine that there is not enough interest and then we will not bring it back,” said Higgins.