In the next week or two, about 1,100 randomly-selected people throughout Freeborn County will be receiving a community health survey designed to gather opinions about public health issues.

The survey, which is designed by the Freeborn County Public Health Department, will be a major part of the community’s comprehensive health plan that will be submitted to the state by the end of December 2009. The plan will cover the next five years.

Freeborn County Public Health Director Lois Ahern said the survey is designed to gather information from community members about community perspectives. It will find out what people in the county think are this area’s major health problems.

It asks questions about unhealthy eating habits, obesity, teen pregnancy, domestic abuse and mental health services, to name a few of the topics.

Ahern said she’s hoping to get back at least 500 surveys.

Once the surveys come back, they will go to the Center for Health Statistics within the Minnesota Department of Health, who will analyze them and then send back a report with the findings, she said. The health priorities for the county will be identified, and then the department will create an action plan of how to obtain those priorities.

Some of the priorities may be things the county, or some other local organization, are already addressing, she said. But there may be some other issues that come up as well.

“I’m hoping and I’d really ask the members of the community that if they get one they take a few minutes and fill it out,” Ahern said. “We’re very excited about doing this because we can combine information from the community. They’re the folks that deal with health issues and other kinds of life issues. I don’t want it to be that we’re missing something significant.”

The results will help the department fine-tune its programs, within the budget restraints it has, and help to find the solution to any problems that are not currently being addressed.

“It’s all about trying to improve the health in Freeborn County,” Ahern said.

She is asking that the surveys be returned within a couple weeks — before Christmas. There will be a reminder postcard sent out after the survey comes out to either remind people to fill out the survey or to thank them for already doing so.

The surveys are anonymous and will never be connected with a name, Ahern pointed out. Every survey will also be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope for return.

She thanked Walden University graduate student Crystal Andresen for her help with getting the survey ready.

Andresen is working on a master’s degree in public health and will be working on a practicum with the county until the end of February. She will be in charge of writing a community description that will be blended in to the public health priorities.