The My Health My Community Survey was launched in June 2013 and is coming to a close in the coming months.
It is critical that the Sunshine Coast community respond to the survey to ensure we have meaningful data to help us identify what's preventing people from leading healthier lifestyles where they live, work, learn and play. The findings will help us develop policies, strategies and programs that promote health and wellness in our community.
The survey aims to gather the information we need to tailor health and social services to the communities that need them. One region may need more services for children at risk; another may need to focus on seniors with mobility issues. We need to know this to make the most effective use of our resources.
Though not obvious, contributing to My Health My Community makes the most sense if we realize doing so means we are helping ourselves, certainly at the community level, but even as individuals. Find out more, and take the survey via the organization's website at myhealthmycommunity.org. The survey will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete on-line. Participants of the survey will be entered into a draw for an iPad. Chances of winning a prize are one in 500!
The My Health My Community was created in partnership by Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and the UBC Faculty of Medicine's eHealth Strategy Office. The survey asks people to provide information about their health, lifestyle choices, community involvement and neighbourhood characteristics. The information gathered will help improve future community programs and services that are more relevant to your health and wellness needs.
Health surveys are a recognised part of community health assessment because they provide information that may not be available in any other way. They help to quantify population health status, can examine prevalence of specific risk factors and seek user or patient perspectives. The results inform program planning and evaluation and allows for examination of issues around inequalities in health access and outcomes.
No matter how genuine our goals, without information from sources such as the My Health My Community survey, results will be haphazard at best. The survey is web-based and can be accessed via any platform: web, phone, tablet. In addition, we would like to survey individuals by telephone and we are seeking volunteers to help with this initiative. Paper copies will also be available in the community for those of you unable to complete the survey on-line. The survey asks questions needed to generate a detailed picture of our communities including socio-demographic characteristics, health status, lifestyles, availability of health care, the built environment and the sense of community belonging.
The My Health My Community survey follows strict privacy practices to govern how information is collected, to control who will be able to see the information and how that information will be used. Protecting your personal information is extremely important to My Health My Community and safeguards are in place to ensure privacy.
If you are interested in helping us to increase the number of responses for the Sunshine Coast you can be a Community Health Champion by encouraging your family, friends and co-workers to complete the survey on-line. If you are interested in volunteering to help us with telephone surveys or have questions about how to access the survey, please contact Susan Hendricks at 604-886-5610.
Editor's note: Dr. Paul Martiquet is the medical health officer for rural Vancouver Coastal Health including Powell River, the Sunshine Coast, Sea-to-Sky, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.
