Broome County Health Department Sponsors Health Surveys Of County Residents

BINGHAMTON, NY - The Broome County Health Department and the New York State Department of Health are sponsoring three community wide telephone surveys to collect data on adult behaviors and other factors that contribute to chronic diseases, injuries, and preventable infectious diseases. The New York State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (NYS BRFSS) and the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey (NYS ATS) are statewide surveys that include residents of Broome County. The Steps to a Healthier New York survey is sampling residents of Broome, Chautauqua, Jefferson, and Rockland counties. The findings from these surveys will be used to develop health programs and services that meet the needs of Broome County residents and will help evaluate the effectiveness of health promotion efforts.

Professional health interviewers from Clearwater Research are conducting the NYS BRFSS and Steps to a Healthier New York survey, and Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in North Carolina is conducting the NYS ATS through Macro International. Survey calls are made primarily during evening hours, and may occur on weekends. The interviewer will ask to speak to a randomly selected adult, 18 years or older, such as the adult male in the house. Telephone numbers are picked randomly by a computer and are not from a phone book, so unlisted numbers may still be called. The length of the interview will vary depending on the survey. If you are called at an inconvenient time, the interviewer can call you back at a time you choose. NYS ATS interviewers will also provide a 1-800 number so that residents can call back the interviewer to complete the survey at a time that is convenient for them.

The highest standards of health survey research, set by the federal government and major research universities, were used to design the interview process, as well as to select the households and the person to be interviewed. Most of the questions in these surveys are identical to those in important state and national surveys, so that the health of our community can be compared to the State and the Nation. The questions in the NYS BRFSS and the Steps to a Healthier New York survey have to do with health behaviors such as exercise, eating habits, smoking, and use of medical services, whereas the NYS ATS assesses adult attitudes and beliefs towards, and use of, tobacco; purchasing behavior and cessation attempt behavior among adult smokers; health status and problems among all respondents; attitudes toward and exposure to, environmental tobacco smoke; perceptions of risk related to tobacco use; recollection of exposure to tobacco or anti-tobacco advertising; and attitudes toward second-hand smoking policies.

Answers to the telephone surveys will be kept strictly confidential and no personal information, such as name and address will be recorded. It is important to answer the questions truthfully to make sure the information collected about our community is accurate. Participation in any of these surveys is voluntary, but the more people who complete one of these surveys will make the information collected from them more useful. These ongoing telephone surveys give residents an opportunity to help reduce the burden of costly diseases and health conditions in their community.

If you receive a call and have any questions or concerns about the:

• NYS BRFSS, you may call the survey company, toll.free at 1.800.727.5016, choose option one and then option two and leave a message, or you can call Colleen Baker at the New York State Department of Health at 518.473.0673 during regular business hours. Residents can also call the Broome County Health Department at 607.778.3921. More information about the State and National survey project can be found at the New York State Department of Health website at www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/chronic/brfss.htm.
• Steps to a Healthier New York survey, you can call Adrienne Ronsani at the New York State Department of Health at 518.473.0673 during regular business hours or the Broome County Health Department at 607.778.3921.
• NYS ATS, a callback telephone number will be provided to anyone who wishes to speak with the Data Collection Task Leader at Macro International about this survey. If you still have questions you can contact the Theresa Hinman at the New York State Department of Health at 518.473.0673 during regular business hours or the Broome County Health Department at 607.778.3921.

CONTACT:
Diane O'Hora, Director of Health Education
Broome County Health Department: 607.778.3921
email: jcchytilo@co.broome.ny.us

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