Oak Creek,Wis., July 9, 2012 - The Oak Creek Health Department, Aurora Health Care, Froedtert Health, Children’s Hospital and Health System, Columbia St. Mary’s, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, and the Center for Urban Population Health Research are working in partnership to conduct a community health survey. The effort will supplement a prior community health assessment conducted three years earlier with updated data and the ability to analyze trends over time.

The survey will provide valuable data for continued evaluation of community needs and help guide government, not-for-profit and volunteer organizations as they fashion services to meet the most pressing needs of the community. It will be conducted between now and mid -August.

About 400 area residents will be interviewed by telephone.

“I would encourage all residents of Oak Creek to help us with this research,” said Judi Price, Health Officer for the Oak Creek Health Department. “If you are among those who receive a phone call, please take the time to answer the survey questions.”

The survey focuses on issues such as access to health care, tobacco use, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, cancer prevention, heart health, injury prevention, immunizations, communicable diseases, mental health and chronic disease. The survey responses will be completely anonymous.

The survey will take about 18 minutes to complete. It is being conducted by JKV Research, an independent research firm that specializes in community surveys.

The community health survey is aimed at meeting several objectives:

• Gathering local data to document annual health status related to the 11 health priorities established by the state health plan.
• Identifying local health behaviors or risk factors that present opportunities for health promotion and health care cost reduction.
• Tracking the success of community health improvement activities.

The surveys also will allow Aurora, Children’s Hospital, Columbia St. Mary’s, Wheaton Franciscan and Froedtert to document population health indicators to help guide clinical efforts.

The survey in Oak Creek is being paid for by a grant from Aurora, Children’s Hospital, Columbia St. Mary’s, Wheaton Franciscan and Froedtert.