Here’s your chance to get a question about a health-related topic asked in a statewide poll
The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is seeking suggestions for topics and questions in the next Kentucky Health Issues Poll. The deadline for suggestions is close of business Aug. 1.
The annual telephone survey asks Kentuckians their views on health policy issues likely to come before the General Assembly or local governments, and their opinions on other health-related topics. The poll is funded by the foundation and Interact for Health.
The poll data are used by a variety of governments, nonprofits, news media “and other organizations focused on improving health and providing health care in Kentucky, to help them better understand the health issues Kentuckians face and their perceptions about potential solutions,” the foundation said in a press release. “KHIP has asked questions on a variety of timely topics, including tobacco use, health care coverage, and substance abuse, in recent years.”
For example, last year the poll found that nearly half of young adults in Kentucky had tried electronic cigarettes, 86 percent want tobacco-free schools, most favor raising the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21, and 71 percent favored a statewide smoke-free law to protect people from secondhand smoke in all public buildings and enclosed workplaces.
Another question revealed that one in four non-senior Kentucky adults who had health insurance said they were worried about losing their coverage in the coming year. Another found that seven in 10 Kentucky adults see addiction as a disease, and eight in 10 favor court-mandated treatment programs for drug offenders. About two in 10 said they know someone who has experienced problems with heroin, or someone abusing methamphetamine. One in four knew someone who struggled with prescription pain relievers. Details about previous KHIP topics and questions are available here.