Jan. 2025 | Vol. 7 Iss. 1
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INSIGHTS INTO WELLNESS: WHAT THE MILLCREEK WELL-BEING SURVEY REVEALED By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com
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early 300 Millcreek residents took part in a citywide survey to measure well-being. The Utah Wellbeing Survey Project, run by Courtney Flint, Ph.D., at Utah State University, targeted Millcreek as one of 51 cities in the state to participate in the survey. Millcreek first did the study in 2022 and this was the second time residents voiced their opinions and concerns. Flint is an environment and society professor at USU. In 2018, she created a survey-based assessment that focused on the well-being of residents in Utah cities to better understand how residents feel about the places they live and give information to local leaders about what people want in their communities. “We asked questions about personal well-being and community well-being,” Flint said. “We asked about different categories of well-being. We asked about community connections, which is a very important variable, as it turns out. We asked about recreation activities and perceptions of population development. This year, we had a bunch of questions about transportation and projects with UDOT and then we had people rank their level of concern for the future of their city.” More than 80% of Millcreek respondents rated their personal well-being at 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale, with community well-being coming in at an average of 3.8 on the scale. Those numbers remain relatively stable from the 2022 survey. Personal well-being was measured based on several factors including family life, mental health, leisure time,
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Showcase
Millcreek residents rated their personal and community well-being during the Utah Wellbeing Survey Project run by Utah State University. (Graphic from the Millcreek Wellbeing Survey Findings 2024 on the USU website)
connection to nature, education and environmental quality. Residents rated mental and physical health as the biggest contributor to their well-being with transportation, education and cultural opportunities rated last. “Millcreek is a very active community,” Flint said. “You look at the percentage of people who are walking,
Millcreek 2024
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biking, gardening, visiting parks, going to community events and using trails and it’s over three-quarters of the respondents….That kind of activity in Millcreek, with people participating in city events and recreating at parks Continued page 8
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Health and wellness