IDPH’s Healthy Illinois Survey gets underway

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has announced the start of the 2024 Healthy Illinois Survey, a statewide effort to compile essential data on the current state of health and wellness and areas where public health can be improved.

Under Illinois law, IDPH is required to administer an annual survey to obtain reliable data from every county and zip code in the state, establishing a baseline of public health information to allow for progress to be tracked and measured each year. This is the first full year for the survey, following a limited pilot project in 2023.

“One of the most important lessons of the COVID-19 public health emergency was the need for public health to have accurate and timely data,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “IDPH is excited to launch the Healthy Illinois Survey to get detailed information on how to best respond to emergencies and improve the health of our residents across the state. I encourage every Illinoisan to watch your mailbox starting this week for an invitation to complete this important, confidential, and volunteer survey. There will be opportunities to participate online and by phone too. I hope you will participate.”

The Healthy Illinois Survey seeks to reach as many as 55,000 households this year, with a goal of at least 400 responses per county and participation from every zip code in the state. To ensure maximum participation, surveys will be conducted online, by phone, and through paper copies sent by mail. The survey will be conducted in English and Spanish. In addition, the Language Line service will be available to allow for phone participation by those who speak other languages.

The survey will ask a variety of health-related questions, including about overall health, access to care, chronic conditions, use of tobacco and alcohol, diet and nutrition, immunization, and more. All responses will be strictly confidential, and only aggregate data will be released publicly.

In another effort to encourage participation, those who are asked to take part will receive an incentive of $1 to $2 per household prior to the survey, and will receive $10 upon completion of the survey.

IDPH is partnering with NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct the statewide survey.

The Healthy Illinois survey is being conducted at the same time as the Illinois Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Illinois households may receive invitations to participate in one or both surveys.

Additional information about the Healthy Illinois survey can be found at Healthy Illinois Survey, while information on BRFSS is available at Illinois Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.