About Health Indicators

The survey tool, database, and process available on Health Indicators were originally created as part of United Hospital Fund’s Health Indicators in NORC Programs Initiative supported by New York City’s Department for the Aging, to help NORC programs improve the health status of older adults in their communities.  Intended to provide programs with the information and tools they need to shift from a reactive practice that responds to crises to a proactive practice that is targeted and systematic, Health Indicators helps community-based organizations collect descriptive information about their client population and baseline data to identify key health risks in the community. 

Read more about baseline data collection in New York.

The Health Indicators survey tool was developed on the premise that, to advance successful aging in place, community-based organizations are well positioned to address three of the seven domains of healthy aging, as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Those three domains each have corresponding CDC-identified indicators, several of which are addressed by survey questions.  For “access to health care” the corresponding indicators addressed by questions include clients’ health insurance coverage, their regular source of care, and their designation of a health proxy.   For “engagement in prevention, promotion, and wellness activities and services” the indicators include self-reported health status, the number of prescription medications they may be taking, and how current they are with immunizations and screenings. And for “management of chronic conditions” indicators include your clients’ chronic conditions, how they are being managed, who is at risk for depression, and whether assistive devices are used.   

The 72-question survey tool is substantively based on standardized questions from validated national and local surveys, including the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2010), the National Health Interview Survey (2010), the U.S. Census (2010), and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York’s AdvantAge Survey (2010).  Additionally, several questions were developed specifically for this questionnaire and pilot-tested in 12 NORCs. (See the source list by question.)  

The survey tool is easy to use and designed to be administered by frontline staff when working with their clients.  Once the survey is administered, its results are entered into a secure, Web-based database, which produces automated reports.  Read more about how Health Indicators works.