Health Risk Factor Survey
We need your help in gathering information about health related problems in your community.
Health care services in rural Kansas are facing challenges on many fronts, and community leaders are working to develop new approaches to address these challenges and improve local health care. To assure they are doing a thorough job, a local Health Futures Taskforce is seeking the help of area residents in defining the various problems, especially those that pertain to “health risk behaviors”. The extent of those behaviors such as little exercise, poor diet, and smoking, as well as limited access to care caused by such issues as lack of health care insurance or a primary care practitioner, can shed light on the best steps the community should take to improve overall health and personal well being.
The Taskforce has developed a survey based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System” which is routinely conducted in most states, including Kansas. However, in many rural areas, the number of people surveyed is too small for reliable localized estimates and statistical analyses. More knowledge about the community is needed to better understand residents’ concerns and target programs at the most pressing needs. This survey is particularly important because most data on a community’s health is several years old and may really be more indicative of long-standing health problems and medical conditions rather than contemporary health risk behaviors which have been found to be of equal if not greater importance.
The plans developed by your local Taskforce may have new programs which will encourage positive change in some health behaviors. Hence it is important for us to gather "baseline" data which we may use to assess the impact of the project. The local Taskforce is part of a larger pilot project serving four communities and six counties in western Kansas, funded by six private not-for-profit foundations in Kansas and will be conducted over a three year period ending in October 2016. A report on the initial year of the project including the results of this survey, will be available in December 2014.
All information is confidential.
You may have received this survey through multiple contacts. One response is all that is needed, but if you have more than one adult in your household, we would appreciate it if they would also complete the survey.
Questions? Please contact:
Christiane “Criquet” Cole
Tri-County Taskforce Coordinator
785-540-4248
criquet@ruraltel.net
Thank you for your help.