Brown Deer to participate in statewide health check-up

Brown Deer - Every year, researchers from SHOW, Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, meet with residents from all over the state to measure their health. Beginning at the end of this week they will be in Brown Deer to check residents' health. All information will going into a database that will show how healthy we are as a state.

"SHOW aims to present a picture of the health of people in Wisconsin," said Dr. F. Javier Nieto, director of SHOW. "Our vision is that the information SHOW collects through the years will play an important role in monitoring the health of Wisconsin people, and in guiding community and statewide health services."

Researchers and public health officials know that more information makes it easier to improve health.

"The results of this survey and clinical examinations will measure the current health status of all Wisconsin residents. This survey will make us better equipped to develop initiatives that will help make Wisconsin healthier than ever," says Dr. Henry Anderson, chief medical officer for the state Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Division of Public Health.

Even in these early years of the survey, SHOW has already gotten information that researchers are taking a closer look at. For instance, in the information gathered in 2008-2009, 97 percent of us thought our own neighborhoods were safe from crime and suitable for walking and biking. We felt safe from crime, but the information shows that 27 percent of us had trouble meeting basic needs and 10 percent of us had no health insurance.

By traveling to all corners of the state, the SHOW field teams are seeing different communities throughout Wisconsin and recording information from the people who live there. Only 36 homes in each area are invited to take part so each home represents more than 3,000 other Brown Deer people in this survey.

SHOW is also taking a look at the communities themselves. A community measuring tool developed just for our state, WASABE, Wisconsin Assessment of Social and Built Environments, is taking a look at how living conditions affect health.

SHOW is funded by the National Institutes of Health's Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and by the University of Wisconsin's Partnership for a Healthy Future, a commitment by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health to greatly improve the health of people in Wisconsin for years to come.

Participants in the study do an at-home interview, fill out a survey and go to a nearby survey center for several basic measurements. Researchers will follow up periodically to update participants' health status.