The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is seeking input about the topics and questions to be included in the next Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP).
The deadline for suggestions is Aug. 1.
KHIP is a telephone poll of Kentucky adults, asking their views on key health policy issues likely to come before the legislature or local policy-making bodies, and their opinions on health-related topics and health status measures. The poll is funded by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and Interact for Health.
KHIP has been conducted annually since 2008, and the Foundation would like the public’s input on topics as well as specific questions that should be asked when the poll is conducted later this fall. KHIP data is used by a variety of government, nonprofit, 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.
KHIP has asked questions on a variety of timely topics, including tobacco use, health care coverage, and substance abuse, in recent years.
In the area of tobacco, for example, KHIP reports released in 2018 revealed that nearly half of Kentucky young adults had tried e-cigarettes, 86 percent want tobacco-free schools, most favor raising the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21, and support held strong at 71 percent for a statewide smoke-free law that protects people from secondhand smoke in all public buildings and enclosed workplaces.
One in four insured Kentucky adults ages 18-64 said they were worried about losing their health care coverage in the coming year, according to another KHIP report released this year.
KHIP 2018 reports also 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 Kentucky adults know someone who has experienced problems with heroin, and the same proportion knew someone abusing methamphetamines. One in four knew someone who struggled with prescription pain relievers.
Details about previous KHIP topics and questions are available here.
Please submit input on the website here by close of business on Wednesday, Aug. 1. For additional information about KHIP, please contact Rachelle Seger, Community Health Research Officer, at 502-238-2139 or rseger@healthy-ky.org.
