Kane County to conduct large phone survey on health topics

The responses of about 2,000 adults and 825 children will help determine the future direction of health care services in Kane County.

Kane County Health Department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert announced a partnership with local hospitals this week to survey a representative pool of county residents by telephone. The survey will cost about $110,000. Of that total, taxpayers are on the hook for $16,667. Five local hospitals and a mental health board will cover the balance. Northern Illinois University will run the survey. Focus groups and a town hall-style meeting will supplement the hard data.

“This will really help us identify and set our community health priorities,” Kuehnert said. “It really sets the strategic direction for the county health department. This is not something we make up on our own. This is based on national criteria.”

The data collected will allow Kane County and local hospitals to compare its health needs with both neighboring counties and other communities across the country. All local health departments must gather identical data every five years.

The hospitals taking part are Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Rush-Copley Medical Center and Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Sherman and Provena St. Joseph hospitals in Elgin.

The surveys will take about 25 minutes to complete for adults, 20 minutes for youths younger than 18. The questions will cover everything from health status, ability to access health care, mental health needs, substance abuse problems, nutrition levels and physical activity.

This will be the fourth time in the county health department’s history that it’s conducted such a measure of community health needs. Kuehnert expects the survey results will be available by the end of the year.

Examples of the questions asked in the survey can be found on the Centers for Disease Control website, cdc.gov, by searching “Behavioral Risk Factors Survey.”