Tomorrow's leaders in health promotion are being educated at American University today.

 

The Survey

Below is the sruvey that was developed for this project. I started with the concepts of the HMSS survey. I reconstructed a new survey with a great deal of help and inspiration form Dr. Michael O'Donnell, and my professors Dr. Robert Karch, Dr. Fred Jacobs, Dr. Stacey Snelling, and Dr. Marc Schaeffer. I got a great deal of valuable feedback and assistance from some professionals in the field and from the graduate students in the health fitness management at American University. Reliability measures were developed with the help of Dr. Carlos Crespo's research methods class. Thank all of you. I welcome any additional comments that you could offer to me. You can send them via e-mail. I give my permission to anyone who would like to use any or all of this survey but would appreciate it if you would contact me first. This survey is also available in as a PDF file.

Title page

COMPUTING HABITS OF HEALTH PROMOTION PROFESSIONSALS ATTENDING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF HEALTH PROMOTION CONFERENCE: BALANCING HIGH TECH WITH HUMAN TOUCH

AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA

MARCH 1-6, 1999

The knowledge and practices of the leaders of a profession often dictate how rapidly change is made. Generally, the leaders set the stage for innovations. Leaders need accurate information to make strategic decisions about how to prepare for the future.

The purpose of this survey is to gather baseline information on the computing habits of health promotion professionals to compare with other professions.

The questions being explored include:

  • 1) What are your computing habits and backgrounds?
  • 2) How do you use computers with your clients?
  • 3) What are the barriers and issues that you face?
  • 4) What patterns can be discerned from the demographic data of this diverse population?

It will take about 10 minutes to complete this survey. Your participation is important. The results of this survey will be accessible to all on the Internet or directly from the author.

If the survey is not collected at the end of this session, please return this questionnaire to the box at the registration area. Thank you for your participation in this survey. Additional comments are welcome on the back of the questionnaire.

The results of the survey will be available directly from the author or at http://www.healthy.american.edu/ajhpthesis.html

If you have additional questions please contact:

John Studach

National Center for Health Fitness at American University

4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

Washington, DC 20016-8037

Phone (202)-885-6287

FX (202) 885-6288

E-mail - jstudac@american.edu

PART I YOUR COMPUTING HABITS

The following questions are about your computing habits. This section will be helpful in determining how computers are being used in your work. Check one box for each question.

1. How important do you feel computers are in your work?

[ ] Very Unimportant [ ] Unimportant [ ] Average Importance [ ] Important [ ] Very Important

2. Are you required to use a computer at work? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. What is the total number of years you have been using a computer?

[ ] Never [ ] 0-2 years [ ] 3-4 years [ ] 5-9 years [ ] 10 or more years

4. On average how many hours per day do you use a computer?

[ ] Never [ ] Less than 1 hour [ ] 1-2 hours [ ] 3-4 hours [ ] 5-6 hours [ ] 7 or more hours

5. How much access do you have to a personal computer?

[ ] No Access [ ] Unrestricted - only user [ ] Share a computer with others

6. Where have you received your most important form of computer training?

[ ] Self-taught [ ] Course-College [ ] Training-at work [ ] Colleague-at work [ ] Friend [ ] Other

7. If you use the Internet, how many years have you been using it?

[ ] Never [ ] 0-2 years [ ] 3-4 years [ ] 5-6 years [ ] 7 or more years

8. On average, how many hours per day do you use the Internet?

[ ] Never [ ] Less than 1 hour [ ] 1-2 hours [ ] 3-4 hours [ ] 5-6 hours [ ] 7 or more hours

9. Does your employer host a Website? [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know

If yes, how many years has it been operating? [ ]0-1 yrs. [ ]2-3 yrs. [ ]4 or more years [ ] Don't know

10. There are many products on the market designed to help people do their work. Circle the number that describes how frequently you use each product on an average day.

Never = 1 Rarely = 2 Sometimes = 3 Often = 4 Regularly = 5

Word Processing programs (e.g. Word, WordPerfect) 1 2 3 4 5

Database management software (e.g. KI, Oracle, Dbase) 1 2 3 4 5

E-mail ­ communications software (e.g.Outlook, Notes) 1 2 3 4 5

Internet browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape) 1 2 3 4 5

Presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint) 1 2 3 4 5

Search engine on the Internet (e.g. Yahoo, AltaVista) 1 2 3 4 5

Desktop publishing (e.g. PageMaker) 1 2 3 4 5

Graphics packages (e.g. PhotoShop, Illustrator) 1 2 3 4 5

Other software and programs ______________________ 1 2 3 4 5

[ ] I do not enough information to answer the question

PLEASE GO ON TO PAGE TWO

PART II COMPUTER USE IN HEALTH PROMOTION ACTIVITIES

The following questions are about your use of computers in your health promotion activities. The term client is used to refer to clients, participants, customers, or those you provide health promotion services to.

11. How important do you feel computers are in your health promotion work with your clients?

[ ] Very Unimportant [ ] Unimportant [ ] Average Importance [ ] Important [ ] Very Important

12. How often do you use computers to provide health promotion services to others?

[ ] Never [ ] Rarely [ ] Sometimes [ ] Often [ ] Very Often

13. What level of support do you get from your supervisors or management to use computers in your health promotion work with your clients?

[ ] No support [ ] Little [ ] Some [ ] Neither Strong nor Weak [ ] Strong [ ] Very Strong [ ] NA

14. Computers can be used for a variety of health promotion purposes. Indicate how often you use computers for each of the following on an average day.

Never = 1 Rarely = 2 Sometimes = 3 Often = 4 Regularly = 5

To do business or management tasks 1 2 3 4 5

To communicate with my clients (e.g. e-mail) 1 2 3 4 5

To gather information for myself or my clients 1 2 3 4 5

To conduct research for myself or my clients 1 2 3 4 5

To gather/manage data about my clients 1 2 3 4 5

To produce materials for my work or my clients 1 2 3 4 5

Other purposes ___________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

[ ] I do not enough information to answer the question

15. Many obstacles have been identified that make it difficult to use computers in health promotion activities. Which of the following do you consider barriers to your use of computers with your clients?

Very Unimportant = 1 Unimportant = 2 Average = 3 Important = 4 Very Important = 5

Low computer skills 1 2 3 4 5

High cost/budget 1 2 3 4 5

Lack of technical support 1 2 3 4 5

Lack of Access 1 2 3 4 5

Lack of time 1 2 3 4 5

Competing priorities 1 2 3 4 5

Lack of training 1 2 3 4 5

Important Lack of leadership 1 2 3 4 5

Not a high priority for the organization 1 2 3 4 5

[ ] I do not enough information to answer the question

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Age:[ ]Under 30 [ ]31-40 [ ]41-50 [ ]51 and older

Gender: [ ]Male [ ]Female

Home zip code: __________

Education - highest level completed: [ ] HS [ ] AA [ ] BA/BS [ ] Professional license [ ] MA/MS [ ] Ph.D.

Health Sector: [ ]Medical/Hospital [ ]Academic [ ]Business [ ]Corporate Health [ ]Consultant [ ]Other_______

Total years you have worked in the health promotion industry. [ ] Less than 5 [ ] 6-10 [ ] 11-20 [ ] 21 or more

Size of your organization: [ ]Less than 100 [ ]101-500 [ ]501-1000 [ ] 1001 or more

Your job title: [ ]Executive/manager [ ]Middle manager [ ]Professor/educator

[ ]Professional/practitioner [ ] Consultant [ ] Other ___________________

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO REGISTRATION.

To Chapter 3
Last Updated: December 10, 2001