Public Health Institute to Conduct Major Health Survey in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Findings Will Shape Future Health Programs and Initiatives for Local Residents

PHILADELPHIA — Knowledge is power and over the next three months, Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), through its Community Health Data Base (CHDB), will conduct the 2010 Household Health Survey to gain insight into the health care experiences of area residents. Approximately 10,000 households throughout Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties will be randomly contacted by telephone and asked questions about health screenings, use of health services, health insurance and personal health behaviors.

All of the information collected is confidential and will be used to plan and improve health services for area residents. Hospitals, government agencies, universities, managed care organizations and others will use information from the survey to assess community health needs, address community health concerns, and plan, implement and evaluate community health initiatives. “I encourage everyone who receives a survey call to participate,” says Francine Axler, CHDB project director. “By doing so, they add to the knowledge base that empowers our local community to develop responsive health services.”

As a pioneer in health research, CHDB included 300 cell phone interviews in its 2008 survey, providing one of the first glimpses at the differences between traditional landline survey respondents and respondents whose cell phones have replaced landline phones as the primary means of communication. This year, the number of cell phone interviews will increase from 300 to 1,000. Highlights for 2010 also include new questions related to Internet use and new and returning questions on food access and housing costs.

2010 is the year to determine how the region’s health indicators fare in comparison to the Healthy People 2010 goals, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. The results of the survey will address our progress as a region in the areas of obesity, physical activity, tobacco use, access to care and more.

The 2008 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey found that:

  • One quarter (25.2%) of adults in Southeastern Pennsylvania is obese.
  • One in five (20.4%) Southeastern Pennsylvania adults smokes cigarettes on a daily basis.
  • Approximately one in ten adults (9.8%) – representing about 237,400 individuals – has no public or private health insurance.
  • More than one in ten (11.6%) adults reported cost as a barrier to health care.
  • Adults who indicated their housing payments were "very difficult" or "difficult" to make each month were more likely than other area residents to report not seeking treatment when sick due to cost (18.8% and 3.4%, respectively).

CHDB’s Household Health Survey is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country. CHDB is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, William Penn Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Foundation, CIGNA Foundation, Green Tree Community Health Foundation, Hospitals and Higher Education Facilities Authority, The Scattergood Foundation and over 350 local agencies from the health, government, nonprofit, and academic sectors. For more information, please visit www.chdbdata.org.

For more information on the Household Health Survey or the Community Health Data Base, contact Francine Axler at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 215.985.2521.