Press conference to announce survey findings, call for community dialogue
The health of residents in New Haven’s most underserved neighborhoods shows signs of progress, a recent health survey has found, but serious challenges remain in areas such as obesity rates and access to healthy food.
Nearly 1,300 residents from six New Haven neighborhoods participated in the fall 2012 survey to gauge their health status and health habits as part of a long-term project to reverse alarming rates of chronic disease in the city. The findings will be discussed Wednesday during an 11 a.m. press conference at New Haven City Hall.
Adults in the city’s Dixwell, West River/Dwight, Fair Haven, Hill North, Newhallville and West Rock/West Hills neighborhoods provided information about their current health and health issues within their community, including access to health care, diet, exercise, tobacco use, and their neighborhood environment. Nearly 20 New Haven residents were hired and trained to administer the door-to-door surveys.
A similar health survey was conducted in 2009 in the same six neighborhoods and provides a reliable reference point.
The 2012 survey found that 42 percent of respondents reported improvements in their neighborhood over the past three years that make it easier to lead a healthy lifestyle. Meanwhile, 41 percent of the respondents said that people in their neighborhood are encouraging others to lead a healthy lifestyle.
However, four in 10 people surveyed reported food insecurity, where families did not have enough food or money for food, and nearly 70 percent were found to be either overweight or obese.
In addition to Wednesday’s press conference, the findings also will be shared in a series of community meetings later this month and in April. Each public meeting will run from 6:00-7:30 p.m. with free childcare and dinner provided. The schedule is as follows:
- West Rock & West Hills, Monday, March 11, Brennan Rogers School, 199-200 Wilmot Rd.
- West River & Dwight, Tuesday, March 19, Augusta Lewis Troup School, 259 Edgewood Ave.
- The Hill, Thursday, March 21, John C. Daniels School, 569 Congress Ave.
- Dixwell & Newhallville, Wednesday, March 27, Wexler-Grant School, 55 Foote St.
- Fair Haven, Wednesday, April 10, Clinton Avenue School, 293 Clinton Ave.
The Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), a partnership between the New Haven community and the Yale School of Public Health, is taking direct action against chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and heart and lung disease that threaten the health of the New Haven. To improve health, CARE is promoting healthier lifestyles by focusing on better diets and more exercise. The surveys are providing essential information to improve community health, neighborhood by neighborhood, said Jeannette Ickovics, a Yale professor of public health and CARE’s director.
“We believe we are seeing a discernable shift in perceptions about the importance of healthy diet and exercise, and we are encouraged that New Haven residents are getting more involved in lifestyle change, individually and within their communities,” Ickovics said. “But we know that deeper change will be difficult, and that is why we need local residents to come to our community dialogue meetings, to help us keep the momentum going.”
The survey was sponsored by Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Donaghue Foundation. DataHaven, a community-based nonprofit organization that promotes data sharing, is a partner is the project.
CARE works with neighborhood groups and community leaders to organize health programs and activities for residents such as bringing more farmers’ markets into communities, supporting more community gardens, helping corner store owners to stock healthier foods, creating new faith-based programs with a focus on health, offering a smoking cessation programs and creating school-based health promotion projects. More information is available on CARE’s website at www.care.yale.edu