Public Health Isle of Man has announced that the 2021 Health and Lifestyle Survey is now open to anyone who wishes to take part.
An invitation to complete the survey was sent to 7,000 households randomly selected from the publicly available property database earlier this month. The approach aimed to ensure that the information gathered was representative of the Island’s population.
From today Monday 22 November the entire community is being invited to complete the survey so that additional data can be gathered, although the initial representative sample will be analysed separately.
The questions focus on general health and wellbeing, diet, physical activity and lifestyle choices and respondents can choose which questions they feel comfortable answering.
The survey can be completed online or downloaded from gov.im/healthandlifestylesurvey Paper copies can be requested by contacting Public Health on +44 1624 642639 and leaving a message with your home address. Any queries about the survey can be directed to Public Health at the above number or by emailing publichealth@gov.im
The results of the survey will provide valuable information on the health and wellbeing of the population and will help shape cross-government policies.
Director of Public Health Dr Henrietta Ewart said:
‘It is really important to us that our survey represents everyone living on the Isle of Man. Whatever stage of life you are in, your information is important to us. Taking part is an opportunity to shape our cross-government policies that have an impact on the health and wellbeing of us all.’
‘The aim of the survey is to gather information in order to measure what’s happening so that we can use it to inform our policy and strategy and then direct resources to the right places. Without gathering the data, we know that people are living longer but we do not know if people are living healthier and that’s a very important distinction. By taking an evidence-based approach, we will have the information available to develop strong programmes for areas like healthy weight management, smoking cessation and oral health, for example. We can directly compare what’s going on with England and Wales, see where our red flags are and concentrate on those in the future.’
All answers disclosed in the survey will be completely anonymous and any information treated in the strictest confidence, in accordance with the Isle of Man Data Protection Act 2002.
The survey will close at midnight on Sunday 5 December.
