A11DAILY SUNWednesday, February 8, 2012 From Page A1

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country, Petersen said. Residents will find the survey

questions will focus on three areas; health behaviors, quality of life, as well as access to health and mental health services. Each section is seven pages of questions.

The number of questions, type of questions and how long it takes to complete the survey were actually determined by residents themselves.

“We’ve said all along the partnership begins with you, because you are the experts when it comes to your own health,” Petersen told the resi-dents gathered inside Savannah Center.

Residents participated in focus groups to help shape and define the survey, she said.

Now, the next phase moves to the entire community.

“Our aim here is to survey as many of you 87,000 as possible, which would make it the largest survey of a senior population ever,” Petersen said.

Each household occupant is asked to complete a survey. USF Health, working with its partner, The Villages, will try to send the appropriate number of individual surveys to each household, although they’re asking each household to return the home’s survey in a single envelope. If a household is short the number of surveys, they can contact USF Health officials at 753-6200 to get more.

Return envelopes will be provided, but residents also will receive directions if they wish to complete the survey online. USF Health officials are asking the completed surveys be placed in the amenities drop boxes, located at postal substations throughout The Villages, rather than mail them back. Surveys may also be returned in person to the USF Health in The Vil-lages office at 1040 Lake Sumter Landing.

Petersen assured residents that the results will be anony-mous, as survey takers are not tracking individuals. She also labeled the endeavor as a health survey and not one seeking per-sonal medical records.

USF Health officials are ask-ing residents to complete the surveys by Feb. 25 so communi-tywide results can be tabulated.

“This (survey) in itself is only the starting point,” Petersen said.

She said the survey results will lead to additional steps The Villages-USF Health partner-ship, as well as the residents, can take to promote healthier living.

Petersen said those involved already have been impressed by the willingness of Villagers to want to actively improve not only their own health but that of others, too.

“We’re already humbled by the enthusiasm you’ve shown for this,” she said.

Villages Homeowners Asso-ciation president Don Hahnfeldt said the impact of this survey and its follow-up will be a defin-ing moment for the community.

“We’re about to show the nation and the world where health care can go,” he said.

Curt Hills is an assistant man-aging editor with the Daily Sun. He can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9319, or curt.hills@thevillages media.com.

SURVEY, from A1

George Horsford / Daily SunJoanne Hamann, left, a resident of the Village of Hemingway, and Donna Frederick, a resident of the Village of Poinciana, were just two of the hundreds of residents eager to learn about the upcoming communitywide health survey. They’re shown here getting more information from AnnaMarie Muench, a resident of the Village of Hemingway and a volunteer with USF Health in The Villages.

behaving, and recession fears are gone.

“There are signs that the economy is getting back on its feet and the market is react-ing to that,” said John Prestbo, executive director of Dow Jones Indexes. “The mood is just better in this country than it has been for a while.”

Tuesday’s tradeOn Wall Street, too. The

Dow traded Tuesday at 12,878, a 21 percent rally from Oct. 3, its low point for last year. In January, the average rose more or less in a straight line and added 3.4 percent, its best start to a year since 1997.

From here, the record is tantalizingly close — 14,164.53, reached Oct. 9, 2007, when the investment houses Bear Stea-rns and Lehman Brothers still existed and the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent.

A 10 percent surge may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. The Dow has gained almost 15 percent since Nov. 25, just 10 weeks ago.

Though there’s a long way to go to get the country back to economic health, there are pockets of encouragement.

Unemployment is still 8.3 per-cent, but it’s the lowest since February 2009. Economic out-put grew every quarter last year.

Corporate earnings growth has slowed, but analysts think it will pick up again later this year. Investors, always wary of uncertainty, may even be encouraged by some clarity in the Republican presidential nominating race.

Investors are no longer just trying to stem their losses, said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities in San Fran-cisco: “They’re playing a little offense. Six months ago, they were playing defense.”

There’s evidence that the rally has room to run. In a pop-ular measure of how expensive stocks are, the 30 companies that make up the Dow are trading at an average of about 13 times their annual earnings per share.

At 13,000 in 2008The last time the Dow was

at 13,000, in May 2008, stocks were trading for about 15 times earnings. Stock-market research firm Birinyi Associ-ates estimates Dow stocks have traded at an average of 16 times earnings over the past two decades.

The fire-sale discounts have already come and gone,

though. Those were back in early 2009, when the Dow bottomed at 6,547.05, its Great Recession low — a little more than half the level now. Back then, Dow stocks traded at nine times earnings.

Not everyone believes the rally will last. Joe Gordon, managing partner at Gordon Asset Management in North Carolina, is dubious. He cites the unresolved European debt crisis, the U.S.’ historically high national debt and the millions of people who have given up looking for work, part of the so-called underemployed.

“This is like drinking a lot of coffee in the afternoon,” said Gordon. “It perks you up, then once it fades 45 minutes later you’re even more tired.”

Another wrinkle is that the Dow tracks just 30 companies, so it doesn’t take the full pulse of the market. The Standard & Poor’s 500, with its much larger roster, is still 16 percent away from its all-time high.

“It’s 30 stocks,” said Rob Leiphart, an analyst at Birinyi. “It doesn’t give you a represen-tation of anything.”

But despite its size, the Dow is the market gauge that pen-etrates the public conscious-ness, generating headlines and water cooler buzz more than the less publicized S&P.

DOW, from A1

last week’s 60 percent turn-out among residents in the Republican presidential primary election.

“Sixty percent with this would put us at 50,000,” Hahnfeldt said. “And we’ve shown that when something is near and dear to us, we’ll turn out in the high 80s.”

Petersen also addressed some of the reasons that residents might be reluctant to participate, including concerns that the information gathered won’t be kept private. She emphasized that the data will be collected anonymously.

“You’ll drop (the form) in the box and I won’t know who it is from,” she said. “There will be no way for us to link the survey to an individual.”

Besides, that’s not what this study is about.

“This is a population assess-ment,” Petersen said. “We’re try-ing to understand the health of an entire community, not of any one of you individually.”

The USF Health in The Vil-lages community survey will be the largest medical study of older adults ever conducted in the United States. The informa-tion gathered will be used to help devise the next steps to promote healthier living — both here in The Villages and beyond.

But for it to work, residents need to get involved.

“We’re trying to make this

‘America’s Healthiest Home-town’ and we can’t do that if we don’t know what to do,” Peters-en said. “And I won’t know what to do until you tell me.”

Jim Cheesman is an assistant managing editor with the Daily Sun. Reach him at 753-1119, ext. 9268 or via email at jim.cheesman@thevillagesmedia.com.

A12 DAILY SUNWednesday, February 8, 2012State / From Page A1

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FREE JOINT PAIN SEMINAR

Local orthopaedic surgeon

Dr. Samir Guru will be discussing

Date: Thursday, February 9, 2012

Time: 3:00 pm (light refreshments will be served)

Location: The Waterfront Inn 1105 Lakeshore Drive The Villages, FL 32162

1-888-STRYKER www.aboutstryker.com/seminars

“I plan to do the survey because it will help us understand what we really need in our community to

help maintain our ‘healthiest hometown.’”—Judy JanssenVillage of Glenbrook

“I think it is a great idea for our

community, because we can be a wonderful

prototype for the country.”

—Jacquie RalphVillage of Country Club Hills

“It’s a wonderful idea, and I’m glad to be part of it. Not only will it help our community, but it will help others.”

—Rich ScaerVillage of Santiago

“I think it’s a great idea, because we have

a unique situation of people living here who are 55 years old and older. It seems only natural for a

university to zero in on our community to see how we can help.”

—Mary BurkeVillage of Santiago

“It’s an excellent idea to survey The Villages,

because we are a captive audience.”

—Don WestlakeVillage of Rio Grande

“I’m a health freak, so anything I can do

to prevent any disease or health issues, I want to help.” —Mary WestlakeVillage of Rio Grande

“The purpose is well meaning, and

I think people should participate so we

have the most accurate results.”

—Tony OteriVillage of Hadley

“It’s a very good idea, because we have the

unique opportunity to find out what works and what will be best

for our age group. I encourage people to

take the survey.”—Jackie Biemesderfer

Village of Tamarind Grove

VILLAGERS’ THOUGHTS ON THE SURVEY

PARTICIPATION, from A1

TallahasseeCompromise emerges on pharmacy vaccinations

The House Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday approved a compromise bill that would expand the power of pharmacists to give vaccinations.

Doctors and pharmacists have long clashed about the issue. But the committee voted 16-1 to approve a revised bill (HB 509) that emerged after negotiations between doctor and pharmacy groups.

The bill would allow pharma-cists to administer pneumonia vaccines, similar to their current authority to give flu shots. It also would allow pharmacists to give vaccinations for shingles, though those shots would require pre-scriptions from physicians.

State Government Briefs

TallahasseeVeterans ‘V’ license program expansion moves

More veterans will be able to get a “V” on their driver’s license to show that they’ve served in the military under a bill (SB 1298) approved by the Senate Transportation Committee.

TallahasseeSchool buses would get cameras under bill

Drivers who fail to stop for school buses that have their stop sign out at a school — News Service of Florida

The revised bill also calls for pharmacists to complete vacci-nation-related continuing educa-tion courses that likely would be administered by the Florida Medical Association.

Sponsor Ana Rivas Logan, R-Miami, said the bill would make it more convenient for people to receive vaccinations.

“This is about health care, and this is about access,’’ she told the committee.

The bill, by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, expands a pro-gram put in place last year that allowed for the markers.

Detert said it was very popular and some veterans were upset that they would have to wait until their license expired to get the mark, which might be five years.

The bill allows any veteran to pay $2 and go ahead and get the “V” even if their license isn’t expired yet. It also makes it easier for veterans to prove their service.

bus stop could be caught on cameras placed on the bus, under a bill approved Tuesday by the Senate Transportation Committee.

The measure (SB 250), sponsored by Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, was approved 9-1, with Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, the only vote against.

“This bill is about changing habits,” said Braynon, saying it is rare that a police officer is around to catch people who don’t stop for school buses and that children often dart in front of buses.

Under the measure, the local jurisdiction — wherever the infraction occurs — would be responsible for using the pictures to issue tickets.

A13DAILY SUNWednesday, February 8, 2012 ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown’

James Ukockis, left, and Catherine Miller, center, talk with Dr. Donna Petersen, USF dean, College of Public Health, at Savannah Center on Tuesday afternoon. Petersen explained that a resident survey will help lead to steps to make The Villages ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown.’

Above: Ron and Jan Stobart, Village of Mallory Square residents, look over information about the survey as they wait to hear from Dr. Donna Petersen, USF dean, College of Public Health. Left: ‘We’ve been humbled by the enthusiasm you’ve shown for this,’ Petersen said of residents’ support of The Villages-USF Health partnership. That support remained strong Tuesday when hundreds turned out to hear about the resident health survey that will be sent to households next week.

Above: At Savannah Center, Delane and Dick Rabuck, right, residents of the Village of Santo Domingo, speak with Tom Materazo, left, a USF Health volunteer who resides in the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter. Right: The USF Health in The Villages community survey will be the largest health survey in the country of older citizens when surveys are mailed to the 87,000 residents, according to Petersen.

Photos by George Horsford / Daily Sun

PROMOTING HEALTH