Hazelwood Health Study Adult Survey: Volume 1 Comparison of Morwell and Sale

This report comprises Volume 1 of the Hazelwood Health Study Adult Survey findings, which aims to assess whether Morwell adults, who were heavily exposed to smoke from the Hazelwood mine fire, have adverse cardiovascular, respiratory or psychological symptoms compared to Sale adults, who were minimally exposed.
Eligible participants were people aged 18 or older, at the time of the mine fire, who lived in Morwell or in one of 16 selected areas in Sale. Contact details for eligible subjects were drawn from the electoral roll maintained by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). The VEC identified 9,448 registered Morwell residents and 4,444 registered Sale residents. For their convenience, participants were offered the option of completing the Adult Survey in one of three ways: by telephone interview, online or by paper questionnaire. Diverse strategies were utilised in the effort to contact and maximise recruitment of eligible adults from Morwell and Sale. These included personalised mail, $20 gift vouchers as reimbursement, free public events, radio and print media, posters and flyers. Feedback was monitored in order to identify and address barriers to participation