Survey In Bloomfield Will Help Address Health Gaps, Disparities

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Bloomfield Township. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

The Bloomfield Department of Health and Human Services has released a survey for residents that will help the department monitor their population health efforts.

A community health assessment is conducted by the Health Department every five years and can help them understand some of the social factors influencing the health of residents. Since communities can go through many changes that directly affect their health during that time, the department conducts population health outcomes surveys every year to help fill in the gaps.

“The health and well-being of our residents is something that we take extremely seriously,” said Mayor Venezia. “Our Health Department is constantly searching for ways to improve our health and determine the effectiveness of their current programs and services. I implore every resident to take this quick survey as it will provide a great deal of valuable information to the Health Department staff.”

The data collected will help the Health Department identify any health related gaps/disparities that need to be addressed. The township will use the information to allocate funding for things such as mental healthcare professionals, social workers, physical health and the general emotional well-being of the community. The survey is completely anonymous.

“Last year, our department received about 400 survey submissions and it is our hope that more residents will participate this year,” said Health Director Karen Lore. “Every submission we receive will help us shape the programs and services that we offer. Residents can feel safe knowing that the responses are anonymous and none of their information will be vulnerable.”

The data that will be provided in this survey will be invaluable to local hospitals as well as the township Health Department. All hospitals are required to do community health assessments which determine funding and priorities of focus. Therefore, these kinds of surveys help ensure the community’s needs are being met by the local healthcare system itself.

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