Officials will ask for residents' health facts
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 31, 2008 10:53 AM
A community health survey has been posted online by the Health Department to elicit responses from the public about needs and concerns in the county.
Since June, the Health Department has been gathering data for the survey, which is required by the state every four years, Health Director James Roosen said.
Not only will it focus on such topics as the county's heart disease and cancer rates, but also on opinions about what people consider their biggest health issues.
To date, the survey has been dispatched through jury pool lists, a list of American Red Cross blood donors and random trips to area Wal-Marts. So far, 314 surveys have been completed.
The goal is to have all surveys collected by October, Roosen said.
"Once we get that we will start putting everything together and have a finished document to the state by December," he said.
This week, the health director announced the survey would be made available to a broader audience, by posting it online for the public to be able to participate.
The 56-question survey is anonymous, Roosen said, and takes about 15 minutes to complete.
It can be found on the Health Department's Web site, www.waynegov.com/health. Click the link to the Community Health Survey to access the survey.
"This is an exciting time for us to be able to do this for our community," said Carolyn King, health education supervisor, crediting Roosen with the "desire to get feedback from as many of the public as possible."
The Health Department purchased special software to allow the survey to be posted online. Results are expected to be posted there in the coming months.