Stimson, R. J. et al

The Inala-Ipswich Corridor Community Health Needs Study is a component of the Better Building Cities Program which aims to improve the quality of the living environments for residents in the Ipswich-Inala corridor and to hasten the pace of institutional reform at the Wolston Park Hospital Complex at Wacol and the Challinor Centre at Ipswich. The objectives of the study were to undertake a comprehensive community assessment of the corridor population in conjunction with State and Local Goverment departments; to determine current and potential future health needs for the Corridor consistent with trends in population projections, and to assess community expectations and utilisation of health and related services.

Residents of the corridor were asked to provide information on the following: ownership of private health insurance; use and location of, and preference for, health services such as hospitals and dental clinics; consultations with GPs and the result of these consultations; referral to and use of specialists; awareness of kinds of health facilities in the West Moreton region and those that were used; satisfaction with services in the areas, and health services deemed necessary for the area.

Background variables include age, sex, age when left school, post-school qualifications, employment status, main source of income, use of pensions or benefits, length of time lived in West Moreton region; main language spoken at home and structure of household.