The Bolton Health Survey 2001
Synopsis:
In June 2001, the Public Health Department of Wigan and Bolton Health
Authority undertook a general health and lifestyle survey of local
residents to help plan the future care of local people. The purpose of
the survey was to gather
information about people’s health status and their perceptions of their
own health, about the use of health services and about social factors
that may be associated with health. With this information, the local
health service can build a highly informed picture of the population for
whom they provide health services and to take other measures to improve
their health. This geographically referenced information will provide an
important tool in tackling any social and health inequalities found to
be present in the borough.
The questions contained in the survey were selected through discussions
with representatives from the local health
services and local authorities. Most of the sections regarding health
and lifestyle and health service use were important to form a picture of
local health. They will also help provide information for Department of
Health inequalities targets. Other sections, such as those concerning
social capital and other wider determinants of health, add another level
to our understanding of how these factors affect the health and
lifestyle of the Bolton population. Many questions are taken directly
from other recent regional or national surveys. This ensures those
questions chosen have been
validated as effective tools to measure the given topic. It also
provides comparative data where possible. For those questions that were
adapted or developed especially for this survey, a pilot survey was sent
to a small sample of people in order to trial the questions.
The Health Survey questionnaire was sent to a 5% sample of all those
local residents aged 18 and over who were
registered with a doctor. For Bolton this amounted to 10,305 surveys
being sent (this figure takes into account those surveys returned by
Royal Mail as undeliverable). The questionnaires were sent in early June
followed by a postcard
reminder, a second questionnaire and a further postcard reminder, to the
non-responders. A personalised letter from the Director of Public
Health, explaining the purpose of the survey, accompanied the
questionnaire. On the back of this letter, people were offered an
interpreter in a statement written in Urdu and Gujarati or a large print
version of the form in a statement typed in large print. By the end of
the year, the survey had achieved an excellent response rate of almost
68%. Our thanks go out to all local people who took the time and effort
to fill in this important survey.
More detailed analyses will be available on the Bolton Primary Care
Trust website (http://www.bolton.nhs.uk)
in late 2002. Information on the characteristics of the patients of each
general practice will be available to that practice in late 2002.
Analyses based on areas that can be defined by the 2001 Census, to
reflect more natural communities than wards, will be incorporated into a
document which will also include material from the Census and other
health service and local authority data to be published in 2004. This
forthcoming document, at a finer geographical level, will provide a more
in depth look at social and health inequalities present in the borough.
To download the full report please
click here
For further information please see:
www.bolton.nhs.uk |
