Broome County Health Department Sponsors Health Survey of County Residents
BINGHAMTON, NY - The Broome County Health Department and the New York State Department of Health are sponsoring a community wide telephone survey of health status and local community health needs.
The information collected in this telephone survey will be used to find out about the health of adults in Broome County. The findings from the survey will be used to develop the health programs and services that truly meet the needs of Broome County residents.
The Expanded Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey is being conducted in 38 localities in New York State and began in Broome County in July. A total of 630 randomly selected adults aged 18 years and older will be interviewed throughout all of Broome County over the next year. Professional health interviewers working for a survey company in Idaho will make calls. Calls will be made primarily during evening hours, and may occur on weekends. The interviewer will ask to speak to a randomly selected adult, such as the adult male in the house. Even households with unlisted phone numbers may be called, since the telephone numbers are picked randomly by a computer and not from the phone book. The interview will last about 20 minutes for each adult.
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 select the households and the person to be interviewed. Most of the questions in the survey 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 survey have to do with health behaviors such as exercise, eating habits, smoking, and use of medical services.
Answers to the interview will be kept strictly confidential, and no one will know who has responded to the survey. If you are called for the survey, it is important to answer truthfully to make sure the information collected about our community is accurate. Cooperation with the survey is voluntary but the information can only be useful if those residents, who are called, choose to participate.
If you receive a call and still have questions about the survey, you may call the survey company, toll free at 1.800.727.5016, extension 141 and leave a message. A New York State Department of Health representative will call you back. Residents with questions may also call the Broome County Health Department at 607.778.3927 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. More information about the State and National survey project can be found at the New York State Health Department website County Statistical Information (modified link: 11/07/2005).
CONTACT:
Jan Chytilo, Supervising Public Health Educator,
Broome County Health Department, 607.778.3944
email: jcchytilo@co.broome.ny.us
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