Health Survey Goes Out To Selected Del. Households
Delaware Public Health has begun a series of community assessments to get a better understanding of the concerns and needs of Delawareans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to improve overall health of Delawareans in the future.
DPH and the University of Delaware Partnership for Healthy Communities and Epidemiology Program will conduct the survey. Households have been randomly selected to receive a postcard and a survey packet. The survey can be completed online or sent back in the mail.
Teams of students and community volunteers will also canvas neighborhoods to knock on doors of selected households which have not sent back the survey. Health officials also hope to get more insight about chronic diseases, maternal and child health, mental health and substance use disorder during this outreach effort, which is expected to take two months.
“Delaware’s current five-year State Health Improvement Plan covers 2018 through 2023 and was initially developed prior to the pandemic,” Delaware Public Health Director Dr. Karyl Rattay said. “Community assessments related to COVID-19 and broader conditions now impacting the health of Delawareans are critical to helping inform the current plan and guide the next state health needs assessment and planning process.”
“We are grateful that our students have the opportunity to gain real-world experience by conducting a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER), in Delaware for the first time,” UD Epidemiology Program Founding Director Dr. Jennifer Horney said. “It is important that these students, who are the State’s future public health workforce, embrace working directly with residents and communities to collect data that can be used for decision-making by public health leaders and emergency managers.”
The schedule is as follows:
Survey mailings:
- Kent County – week of Jan 24
- New Castle County – week of Feb. 7
- Sussex County – week of Feb. 21
Canvassing begins:
- Kent County – Feb. 25
- New Castle County – March 11
- Sussex County – March 25
To learn more about Delaware’s State Health Improvement Plan, visit www.DelawareSHIP.org.
