NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) – ThedaCare is launching a survey for everyone in Northeast Wisconsin to get a better understanding of overall health and well-being in the community.
The purpose and goal of the survey is fairly straightforward.
“To understand how people are doing in terms of their physical health, mental health, financial health, and social connectedness – because we know that has a huge impact on their overall health and well being,” said ThedaCare Director of Community Health Improvement, Paula Morgen. “That combination of those factors can help us really pinpoint which people in the community are thriving or struggling or suffering then we can focus our energies that community health efforts on those who most need help.”
They’ll then use those responses to identify where the pockets of people are that aren’t having as much of an opportunity to thrive as others, and channel focus and energy in those places.
Through the survey, individuals are encouraged to share how they’re personally feeling now, and to look ahead to the next five years, related to physical, mental and financial health, as well as social and emotional support and life purpose and fulfillment.
But why ask individual people what they think of their own health, rather than consulting doctors?
“Peoples’ self perceptions of their overall health and well-being are really, really accurate. In fact, there are several countries that use the well-being survey to assess how well they’re doing in place of things like a GDP measurement,” Morgen told WTAQ News. “About 50-percent of what makes up health has to do with the social and economic and behavioral factors that happen well outside of clinics or the hospital setting.”
As for the mental health aspect, especially coming out of the pandemic, where mental health issues and suicide rates rose significantly, Morgen has an idea of what they’ll see in the coming months.
“Getting back into face-to-face situations, even for the average person, is going to be stressful,” Morgen said. “[It’s] going to be really normal for people to feel a bit anxious or to feel very anxious. So we expect mental health challenges – they’re happening now, and we expect there to be significant impact for quite some time to come.”
The survey is open to all community members living or working in the counties of Calumet, Green Lake, Marquette, Menominee, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago. The survey can be accessed at thedacaresurvey.com, and is open until May 14, 2021.
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