Commissioner of Public Health Sigalle Reiss announces that the Brookline Department of Public Health & Human Services has recently launched a Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Planning (CHIP) process.
The CHA-CHIP process will center health equity and community engagement in evaluating the health status of Brookline residents, as well as identifying community needs and barriers to improvement.
This comprehensive assessment goes beyond examining the prevalence and trends of health conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, mental health disorders, substance use, infectious diseases, and environmental health. It also explores the social and structural determinants of health that influence these trends.
The findings from the assessment will serve as a foundation for the planning process, enabling Brookline DHHS to identify gaps, address health disparities and establish the need for new — or more broadly promote existing — programs.
Brookline DHHS has contracted with Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA), to conduct the assessment and develop the health improvement plan. HRiA is a Boston-based national non-profit public health organization with extensive experience conducting equity-focused and community-engaged CHA-CHIP processes.
In collaboration with HRiA, the Department is actively establishing a Steering Committee comprised of Brookline residents and stakeholders to provide valuable guidance and advice throughout the project.
Through a combination of interviews, focus groups, surveys, and state and local data sources, the research team will collaborate with community members to identify current and emerging health needs throughout Brookline. The CHA aims to understand the social, economic, and health-related issues that diverse Brookline residents face, how those issues are currently being addressed, and where there are gaps and opportunities to address these issues in the future. The planning team will then use these results to further engage community members in creating a 5-year plan for the improvement of identified health priority areas.
Residents can stay up to date on the CHA/CHIP on the Department’s website here.
The final CHA is expected to be released in spring of 2024, with the CHIP following in late 2024. These reports will provide the Health Department and other key stakeholders with strategic initiatives to foster equitable health outcomes in Brookline.
