Starting this month a random selection of residents will be receiving phone calls asking them to take part in a regional health survey.
The callers will not be trying to sell anything — rather they’re looking to gather data on a number of quality-of-life metrics that will be included in a database available to local governments, organizations and health care providers.
Since 1991, the Public Health Management Corp. has been conducting the household health survey in the southeastern part of the state. This year, it is extending the survey to Centre County.
Francine Axler, director of the nonprofit, said the group was extending the survey to include Centre County as part of an overall extension of the program.
Last year, the survey grew to encompass Lancaster County, and, with the group’s existing partnerships with Penn State, Centre County was a logical extension.
The survey will be conducted via random phone calls to random numbers in Centre County and will seek to assess a number of medical questions, including insurance status, cost barriers, existing medical conditions, physical activity in the community and the consumer’s thoughts on local health providers.
Axler said that her group would like to see the study continue to grow annually throughout Pennsylvania and sees it as an important tool for the local community.
“Programs can be developed based on actual community need, which will help to better serve vulnerable populations in Centre County,” she said.
The survey’s results will be made available upon completion via local data release meetings and the Internet.
More information is available online at www.chdbdata.org.
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