Tuesday, April 23, 2024
4/23/2024
The prevalence of different health risk behaviors, clinical preventive practices, and health care access related to chronic diseases and injuries in Puerto Rico (PR) are estimated using Puerto Rico Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (PR-BRFSS) data. Throughout the data obtained in the last twenty-four years, Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) identified important health problems related to Puerto Rico population. The high prevalence of diseases and risk factors like asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, low influenza immunization and lack of exercise among others in Puerto Ricans were examples of findings from PR-BRFSS that were addressed by health policy, interventions and developing programs in PRDOH. Puerto Rico Department of Health Programs, health professionals, universities, hospitals, students, and other entities were provided with information useful in identifying emerging health problems, establishing, and tracking health objectives, developing, implementing, and evaluating a broad array of disease prevention activities. PR-BRFSS will improve its ability to conduct the survey, to analyze, to interpret and disseminate data emphasizing the utilization of this information in policy development and program planning for our population. In addition, the data gathered throughout this system will help to track how Puerto Ricans accomplish Healthy People 2030 Objectives, Chronic Disease Action Plan Objectives, Asthma in Puerto Rico Action Plan and some of the Comprehensive Cancer Plan Objectives. Puerto Rico-BRFSS will continue to work and improve its capacity to conduct BRFSS annual survey. As surveillance system, PR-BRFSS will work towards adopting, adhering, and implementing CDC/BRFSS protocols for the survey. PR-BRFSS is an in-house survey residing in PRDOH for the last 24 years. As in-house survey, we work with our data from the planning process through the data field operations to the dissemination process. One thing that we gave utmost importance was the efficiency and response rate of our interviewees. As BRFSS survey evolved, we changed and improved our ways to conduct it. In the past years, we hired more interviewers as needed, re-trained, and monitored them more actively to increase our annual goal and continue to obtain a good American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) response rate as well as AAPOR Cooperation rate.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
