Brookline Public Health Department To Launch Community Health Assessment

BROOKLINE, MA – The Brookline Department of Public Health and Human Services has launched a community health assessment (CHA) and community health improvement planning (CHIP) process.

The CHA-CHIP process aims to focus on health equity and community engagement to evaluate the health status of Brookline residents, as well as identify community needs and ways to improve.

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 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 be used as a foundation for the planning process, which will enable Brookline DHHS to identify gaps, address health disparities and establish the need for new – and better – 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.

The DHHS is also actively establishing a Steering Committee made up of Brookline residents and stakeholders to provide guidance and advice throughout the project.

The research team will collaborate with community members to identify current and emerging health needs throughout Brookline through a combination of interviews, focus groups, surveys, and state and local data sources.

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.

The final CHA is expected to be released in spring of 2024, with the CHIP following in late 2024.