City Publishes Community Health Assessment Report

As a part of the continuous Community Health Improvement Process, the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services (DPHCS) has published the 2014 Community Health Assessment (CHA).

This is the second Community Health Assessment (CHA) for the City of Nashua and the Greater Nashua Public Health Region (GNPHR); the first was completed in 2011. A CHA is a process by which community members gain an understanding of the health concerns and needs of the community by identifying, collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on the community’s assets, strengths, resources and needs. There are many health topics covered in the 2014 CHA, including access to healthcare, maternal health, chronic conditions, emergency preparedness, and substance misuse.

As part of this assessment, information was collected from residents in the City of Nashua and the twelve surrounding towns of Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Pelham and Wilton to identify the top health concerns of residents. Through this process the top health concerns identified by residents were opportunities for healthy living, access to healthcare and behavioral health, which included substance misuse. Although there are health challenges in the GNPHR, there are areas where we are excelling. For example, 70% of Nashua’s third graders have dental sealants, the hospitalization rate for congestive heart failure was significantly lower in the GNPHR in 2009 than 2000, only 1% of newborns in the GNPHR have a very low birth weight, and eight towns in the region have at least 90% of their mothers refraining from smoking during pregnancy.

Following the publication of the 2014 CHA, the City of Nashua, Division of Public Health and Community Services will work with community partners and stakeholders to publish the 2015 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The Improvement Plan will identify the emerging health issues from the CHA, and lay a foundation for a work plan that will guide the health department for the next three years to improve the health of the community.

Kerran Vigroux, Director of the City of Nashua’s Division of Public Health and Community Services, comments, “I am proud of the strides that we have made over the past three years taking the health data we collected from the 2011 CHA and converting data into action through our collective work on the 2012 Community Health Improvement Plan. I am eager to see us continue this work to make our communities healthier and safer places to live, work, learn and play”.

This project was funded by the City of Nashua, Southern New Hampshire Health System and St. Joseph Healthcare. For additional information, contact the Division of Public Health and Community Services at 603-589-4543. The final report can be downloaded from the City of Nashua’s website at: http://bit.ly/Nashua2014CHA.

Submitted text and courtesy graphic.