Input sought on residents' health habits

Panhandle Health District is asking community members to take a short online survey to help with the assessment of health needs for North Idaho.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes, and asks questions such as: Do you have access to health services? What do you think are the top three major health concerns for our area? How often do you exercise or eat fruits and vegetables? How many times in the past 30 days did your mental health affect your daily activities?

Survey-takers have the option of remaining anonymous, but they can also enter for a chance to win a Kindle Fire.

“Participation from a variety of community members is essential to creating an accurate picture of the health needs and priorities in North Idaho,” Lora Whalen, Panhandle Health District director, said in a news release.

In 2018 the next Community Health Assessment Plan will be released, which helps area agencies map out a future plan and also assess current strategies. It’s done every five years, with surveys such as this one done on an as-needed basis to collect useful primary data. The information not only tells of what is lacking to community members, it also gives insight to the results of strategies currently in place.

“Based on our last community health assessment, our top priorities over the last five years have been obesity and diabetes as one focus, and the other main focus is mental health. So based on that we had different strategies, like bringing the crisis center was one of our strategies. So now this is an opportunity, five years later, to say OK, let’s look again, so that we can re-tailor our strategies as needed,” said health district spokeswoman Melanie Collett.

Secondary data from sources like the Census Bureau and the county’s health ranking data are also factors, but this survey is done on a ZIP code level, to delve deeper into specific cities’ needs and also looks at needs of specific populations, such as minority groups or the aging.

“Hopefully we can encourage people to take the survey. It gives great insight to us and health providers and makes community members more aware of their health,” Collett said.

To participate in the survey go to www.NorthIdahoCHA.com