Health survey: Marathon needs bowling alley

BY JOHN L. GUERRA

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

It is a beautiful summer day in Marathon. So why are Alison Kerr and her helpers asking Marathon residents about issues facing the community?

Kerr, the health educator consultant for the Florida Department of Health, is not trying to be nosy or negative. The state grant powering Kerr’s efforts produced a community health assessment report in September that defines Marathon’s quality of life issues. A similar, but less complex, survey in Bahama Village a couple of years ago resulted in improvements in that Key West neighborhood, Kerr said.

The study follows a previous health department report that indicates the Marathon survey area—from the Seven Mile Bridge and 70th Street, which included west and central Marathon—had the highest rates of death, cancer, liver disease, heart disease and unintentional injury than other areas of the Keys between 2008 and 2012.

Kerr’s latest survey, using the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health is one way health officials might determine what affects a community’s health. In the round of questioning outlined by Kerr for KonkLife, residents were asked to name what they believe affects their quality of life.

So Kerr and a couple of interns, some armed with IPads, began approaching residents from the end of May through August, asking each to name the community’s top health, or quality of life issues. By posting flyers everywhere with quick codes that sent residents to the online questionnaire, the survey eventually reached 383 respondents, Kerr said.

The top three issues, according to respondents: Affordable Housing, a dearth of recreational activities, and mosquitos. Affordable housing needs no explanation, but with the ocean for kayaking, fishing, sunbathing–what is lacking in recreational activities?

“Several of those who mentioned not enough recreational activities wanted to see if we could get a community swimming pool in Marathon,” Kerr said. “There’s a beautiful one in Bahama Village, in Key Largo, but nothing in the Middle Keys for the public. Other people said there is a need for more indoor recreational activities, not enough after-hours activities such as bowling. Others mentioned the need for a larger movie theater.”

These all affect quality of life, Kerr said, because activity improves cardiovascular health, psychological mood, and overall physical health. Mosquitos, of course, are a constant presence in the Keys, and in some cases spread disease.

Residents also mentioned illicit drug activity as a problem, Kerr said. “Drugs were No. 8 and then another category that grouped drugs, alcohol and tobacco was Number 13,” she said.

Residents also mentioned law enforcement as a problem, according to the survey.

“They feel that police are a little too strict,” Kerr said. “They said police need to slack off a bit. There’s another point where they responded that there needs to be more police enforcement, too, such as stopping speeding and reckless driving.”

Another community survey in Bahama Village led to police training in verbal Judo, the creation of community gardens, and community partnerships, Kerr said.

“The primary function of these surveys is to strengthen and establish any new partnerships with the health department and to get members of the community to think about ways to solve health issues.”

 

 

 

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