Study Fact Sheet

D2. Study Fact Sheet

CDC Pilot Study of Community-Based Surveillance of Supports for Healthy Eating/Active Living

Study Fact Sheet

WHO IS CONDUCTING THIS STUDY AND WHY?

The study is being conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. In 2008, CDC issued recommendations for actions that communities could undertake to alter local environments to support a healthy diet and increased physical activity within communities. This project builds on those recommendations by testing the feasibility of conducting a periodic survey (surveillance) to systematically assess the extent to which communities have or are implementing some of the recommended strategies.

WHAT IS THE STUDY ABOUT?

This study has two components. The first is a web-based survey that asks about existing policies, standards, and environmental strategies being implemented by local governments to encourage community-level improvements in healthy eating and active living for residents. The second element of the study tests the feasibility of expanding this initial pilot study to communities across the nation. To do this, we have included some questions that allow respondents to tell us about their experience in taking the survey, including perceived burden and the extent to which collaboration across departments was necessary.

FROM WHOM WILL THE DATA BE COLLECTED AND HOW?

Data will be collected via a web-based questionnaire from randomly selected communities across two states. You have been chosen as the point of contact person within your local government because city managers possess the broadest knowledge of the healthy eating and active living policies and initiatives being implemented within a local community. The questionnaire has been designed to allow for collaboration will your colleagues, however, should you need to confer with other departments in order to provide the best information.

WHAT KINDS OF DATA WILL THIS STUDY COLLECT?

In addition to data related to your local government’s healthy eating and active living policies and initiatives, this study is also serving as a pilot study to see if collecting this information on a national level is feasible. Data collected via the survey will help communities and CDC measure implementation of recommended strategies. Process data, collected via the survey and through other mechanisms, will be used to determine if and how a national implementation will be fielded.

HOW WILL PARTICIPATING IN THE SURVEY BENEFIT ME?

CDC will provide participating local governments with baseline information about the local government’s activities related to environmental and policy supports of diet and physical activity. The information will be shared as a two- page summary that compares the municipalities across the State. Local governments can use the data to assess their efforts in these areas.

HOW LONG DOES THE SURVEY TAKE TO COMPLETE?

The survey takes on average 60 minutes to complete. We realize that it may be difficult to complete the entire questionnaire in a single setting. Therefore, we have designed the questionnaire so that you may log out and log back in at a later time with no associated data loss. Your answers are saved as you proceed through the questionnaire.

IS IT MANDATORY THAT I PARTICIPATE?

Participation in this study is voluntary; however, the participation of each selected community is important to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the results. Communities that are randomly selected cannot be replaced, and a high response rate is necessary to achieve valid state-wide estimates of health-enhancing policies and initiatives.

WILL THE RESPONSES OF PARTICIPANTS BE TREATED IN A CONFIDENTIAL MANNER?

Community information will be reported only in aggregate form. No staff will be named in any study reports.

IF I CAN’T ANSWER A SPECIFIC QUESTION, IS IT ALL RIGHT FOR ME TO CONSULT WITH MY COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS?

Yes. If you feel you are unable to answer a question, CDC encourages you to consult with colleagues or persons from other local government departments whom you feel can provide the most accurate data.

HOW DO I ACCESS THE WEB-BASED QUESTIONNAIRE?

The questionnaire can be accessed from any internet-connected computer. Simply go to https://www.WEBSITEHERE.com and enter your unique “token,” or access code. This token was provided to you in a letter along with other study-related materials.

WHAT IS A ‘TOKEN’? CAN I SHARE IT WITH MY CO-WORKERS?

Your ‘token’ is your unique code for gaining access to the web-based survey. This unique token allows a respondent to stop and save completed survey information in order to return to complete the survey at a later time, if needed. The assigned token can be used an infinite amount of times to log into the system before the survey is submitted as final.

You may share the token with your co-workers or persons from other departments whom you feel may have the best knowledge to complete portions of the survey or even a single question. Again, the survey allows responses to be saved and then returned to at a later time. However, once a survey has been submitted as final, the token will expire and you will not be able to re-access the survey.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AM HAVING PROBLEMS LOGGING INTO THE SURVEY WITH MY TOKEN?

Please verify that you are entering the token in correctly. If the error continues, please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx from 8:30am-5:30pm Eastern for assistance.

CAN I GET A COPY OF MY ANSWERS?

Yes. Before you submit the completed survey, there is an option to print out the survey with the answers you supplied. However, please note that once you submit the survey as final, you can not re-access the system to print a copy.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I CAN NOT COMPLETE THE SURVEY ONLINE or IF I PREFER TO COMPLETE IT ON PAPER?

If you are having technical issues that bar you from completing the survey online, we ask you to call our Technical Assistance team at 1-800-xxx-xxxx for assistance.

If you wish to complete a hardcopy version of the survey, you have the option to print out the survey from the website. The ‘print’ button is located at the bottom of the initial survey login page. We ask you to use the unique token assigned to you as you identification number on the survey and to complete the survey using black ink only. Completed survey may be faxed to ICF International in care of Marta Royer at 1-800-XXX-XXXX or scanned and emailed to [email protected]. The completed, hard-copy survey can also be mailed care of Marta Royer, CBS Survey, ICF International, and 11785 Beltsville Dr, Suite 300 Calverton, MD 20705.

WHO CAN I CALL IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS STUDY?

ICF International a nationally recognized survey research firm in Calverton, Maryland, has received a contract from CDC to conduct the pilot study. If you have questions about the study, contact ICF International toll free at 1-800-XXX- XXXX.

WHERE CAN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BE OBTAINED?

To obtain additional information about the CBS pilot study, contact CDC or ICF International.

Inquiries to CDC should be directed to:		Inquiries to ICF Internationalshould be directed to:
Deborah Galuska, MPH, PhD Technical Monitor Associate Director of Science Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 4770 Buford Highway, NE MS-K24 Atlanta, GA 30341 770-488-6017		Erika Gordon, PhD Project Manager ICF International 11785 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300 Calverton, MD 20705 1-800-xxx-xxxx Email: [email protected]