While health care typically deals mainly with diagnosing and treating disease, public health looks at trying to improve a broad spectrum of outcomes related to health and well-being -- ideally, preventing health problems from developing in the first place. That’s the basic idea behind prevention strategies, which can be understood as three types of measures: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary.
Regional Spotlight: Three Rivers Interlocal Council (TRIC)
We believe that the path to sustainable positive change for the health of our communities lies in multi-sector, collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts that address the root causes of public health inequities rather than treating the symptoms. TRIC’s mission of supporting cooperative planning across municipalities, and doing so within a framework that considers how decisions made in one community will affect the neighboring towns and cities, is a strong example of the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration we have pledged to expand in the Blue Hills.
Speaking Public Health: Social Determinants of Health
Social Determinants of Health are the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that impact health and well-being. They affect people’s health and well-being in a wide variety of ways, and they’re key drivers of health inequities -- the unfair differences in health status or access to health resources between different groups of people.
Regional Spotlight: Randolph Community Wellness Plan (CWP)
In 2018, the Town of Randolph partnered with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to generate a town-wide community health needs assessment. In order to fully engage in a comprehensive planning and data analysis process, the Town of Randolph convened a Steering Committee to guide the needs assessment and resulting Community Wellness Plan. CHNA 20 was invited to participate, and has taken an active role on the Steering Committee since its inception.
Learning More from Community Conversations
We’ve been busy! In the past month, we have taken great strides forward in our transportation equity work in the Blue Hills. Our Blue Hills Regional Coordinating Council (BHRCC) convened six more Community Conversations to gather firsthand perspectives and experiences from the communities we serve. Speaking to participants in Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Milton, and Hull -- and gathering follow-up evaluations from many -- has provided us with valuable information that will help to shape the future of our efforts to improve transportation in our region.
Three Questions with Sara Tan of EACH
Why Age-Friendly Communities are Important to Our Work
Within the Blue Hills Community Health Alliance catchment area, three of our thirteen cities and towns -- Quincy, Scituate, and Cohasset -- are currently enrolled in the AARP Age-Friendly Communities network. Their enrollment in the program signals a desire to create communities that will support the needs of an aging population, but what does creating an Age-Friendly Community actually involve? And why are Age-Friendly Communities important to the work of the Blue Hills Community Health Alliance?
Holding Community Conversations to Solve Transportation Challenges
Exactly one year ago, in January 2019, CHNA 20 launched a new program designed to address one of the social determinants that contribute to health disparities in our region. Based on our own data, conversations with partners and stakeholders, and data gathered for the South Shore Hospital Needs Assessment, we chose to focus deeply on solving the problem of transportation equity in our region. Realizing that a lack of reliable transportation is one of our region’s most prevalent social determinants of health led us to create the Blue Hills Regional Coordinating Council (Blue Hills RCC), a voluntary group of stakeholders collaborating to address regional transportation needs. The Blue Hills RCC also supports Metro Quincy’s transition to an Age-Friendly Community by helping to address mobility and transportation access issues for older adults and other populations who would benefit greatly from increased accessibility.