Survey to study health equity in the Finger Lakes is open until end of November

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A survey to study health equity across the Finger Lakes region, especially in underserved communities, is open until the end of November.

Common Ground Health opened the My Health Story 2022 survey in July. It seeks to understand health disparities in the region between geography, race, ethnicity, primary language, and gender.

You can complete the anonymous survey and learn more here. Anyone 18 and up can complete it and it’s also available in Spanish.

Common Ground Health says the goal is to get at least 10,000 respondents to share information about their health. The survey is open to residents of Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates, and Chemung counties.

“The survey is an important tool to inform policies and programs that will improve the health of the Finger Lakes region,” said Common Ground Health CEO Wade Norwood.

Common Ground Health carried out a similar survey in 2018. It found that people in the Finger Lakes who are stressed about housing payments are more likely to have health problems.

It also found that death rates are as high in some rural communities as they are in poorer urban neighborhoods in the region. African Americans in the Finger Lakes struggle with dramatically higher rates of heart disease than other groups, according to the 2018 survey.

Common Ground Health, based in Rochester, is a health research and planning organization for the nine-county Finger Lakes region. It seeks to bring together leaders from health care, education, business, government and other sectors to address health challenges.