St. Clair County health survey underway

Bob Pieper For Chronicle Media

The newest members of the St Clair County Health Dept. management team are ( L-to-R:) new Environmental Health Manager Brian Eckert, new Health Systems and Services Nursing Manager Cathy Stein, new Clinic Nurse Manager Keondra Walker, and new Director of Environmental Programs Sharon Valentine. Executive Director Barb Hohlt is on the far right. (Photo courtesy of St. Clair Health Dept.)

From East St. Louis to Marissa and from Dupo to Lebanon, residents across St. Clair County are being asked to participate in a survey designed to determine the most pressing health concerns their respective communities and help shape health-related services across the county for the next five years.

A project of the St. Clair County Health Commission, the new “Life in My County” online citizen survey is intended to provide policymakers “a deep understanding of the issues that residents feel are important,” according to Mark L. Peters, the director of community health for the St. Clair County Health Department and lead staff person for the survey.

The survey, Peters says, gives residents of the counties various towns, villages, and rural areas a chance to directly answer three questions of critical importance to the county’s healthcare system:

—”What is important to our community?”

— “How is quality of life perceived in our community?” and

— “What assets do we have that can be used to improve community health?”

The online survey can now be accessed at www.surveymonkey.com/r/Life_in_My_County.

Participation is voluntary and participants take part anonymously, the county health commission emphasizes. No participant identification is required. It takes less than 15 minutes to complete, commissioners say.

The survey was posted online June 1 and will be accessible through July 31.

The St. Clair County health center

“We are looking for a representation of citizens from all of the communities within the St. Clair County area,” Peters says. The commission hopes the survey will garner responses from approximately 2,000 to 3,000 individuals or 1 percent of the total population of the county.

The Life in My County survey is a component in development of the commission’s new five-year St. Clair County Community Health Plan; designed to identify and address the county’s most important public health issues.

Rankings released last year by the University of Wisconsin place St. Clair County 97th among Illinois’ 102 counties for health-related quality of life and 87th for longevity of residents. The county ranks 93rd in the state for both incidences of health problems (i.e.: premature births, “unhealthy days” reported by residents), and health-related factors such as healthy behaviors and health services.

The year-long development process for of the new countywide health plan was launched at the commission’s St. Clair County Health Policy Summit, March 2 in Fairview Heights.

The Life in My County survey — also known as the Community Themes and Strengths Assessment — is one of two surveys being conducted by the health commission as a part of the health plan development process. A second “Forces of Change” survey, targeted more to healthcare providers and administrators, is being conducted to identify the major challenges and opportunities facing public health in the county.

In all, the commission is conducting a total of four separate health issue assessment projects as part of its planning process.

The full health care commission is scheduled to meet in late August to review the results from its four assessment teams.

The commission then hopes to engage community leaders around the county in a series of discussions to prioritize most significant health issues and develop the strategic health improvement plans for the next five years.

“The commission extends community participation to those outside health professionals,” Peters says. “That includes consumers, educators, business representatives, parent groups, media representatives, and community based organizations.”

The commission is an alliance of health and human service organizations established in 1991 to develop and strengthen the collective capacity of local efforts to assess and address the public health needs of St. Clair County.

Commission members include representatives of three area hospitals, two local health departments, Scott Air Force Base, the Gateway Region YMCA, the Regional Office of Education, the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, Lindenwood University, McKendree University, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) School of Nursing, the St. Clair County Mental Health Board, the County’s Office on Aging, Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) Programs and Services for Older Persons and the Medical Society Alliance.

The year-long planning process is being conducted by staff from the various member organizations, with efforts coordinated at bi-monthly health care commission meetings.

The “Life in My County” assessment team consists of staff from the Apartment Community of Our Lady of the Snows, the Gateway Region YMCA, the St. Clair County Health Department,

Scott Air Force Base, the Memorial Hospital/St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Cancer Treatment Center, Senior Services Plus, the Southwest Illinois Visiting Nursing Association and the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Program.

For additional information on the county-wide community health assessment and planning process contact Peters at mark.peters@co.st-clair.il.us or (618) 825-4423.

–St. Clair County health survey underway–