Day Kimball Health (DKH) is urging local residents to help make a difference by picking up their phones to help their community. Thousands of randomly selected residents from all 169 Connecticut towns including Northeast Connecticut will be called on to participate in the 2024 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey as part of a large survey on happiness and quality of life.

During the spring and summer, randomly selected residents in each town will receive phone calls from survey-takers at the Siena College Research Institute - typically appearing as 203, 860, or 518 area codes. In some cases, residents may receive a letter, package, or text message with information on how to participate. 

“DKH along with other Connecticut healthcare systems, non-profits, and charitable organizations are supporting this important program,” said Kyle Kramer, chief executive officer, Day Kimball Health. “Our community needs to hear from the folks that live here to better understand their priorities and needs. Their responses will help community leaders better understand what types of programs and services might be needed to make Northeast Connecticut a better place to live.”

The survey will include well-established questions that people like to answer," says Mark Abraham, executive director, DataHaven. "They will be answering questions about their own happiness and well-being, their experiences and relationships within their community, and how well their neighborhoods are doing. These questions show that we care deeply about the aspects of life that are most important to everyone.”

Interviews by friendly survey-takers will help DataHaven and dozens of leading community, healthcare, and charitable groups across Connecticut complete what is believed to be the nation’s largest neighborhood-level well-being survey. Beginning this fall, survey results will be included in many local and statewide publications and community health needs assessments, including DataHaven’s widely-used Town Equity Reports.

DataHaven, the nonprofit group that leads the collection and sharing of public data about Connecticut, said that the 2024 program will track trends on key issues such as economic security, institutional trust, access to healthcare, and public safety. The latest data will allow DataHaven to create even more granular portraits of Connecticut towns and neighborhoods, as well as statistical data for groups that share specific demographics or life experiences.

To ensure that the survey topics reflect the interests of communities, an Advisory Council of representatives from 300 different organizations around the state helped choose the questions to include. For example, the parents and caregivers who are selected to take the survey may receive an expanded set of questions about child well-being and mental health, which emerged as a top issue of concern during the COVID-19 pandemic.