The Community Health Assessment Informs the Work of the Coalition

Oct 19, 2012 Comments Off on The Community Health Assessment Informs the Work of the Coalition admin
Earlier this year, Revere residents had their chance to address their concerns about the city’s overall health by participating in the Community Health Assessment sponsored by the City of Revere, MGH and an expanded Revere CARES Steering Group. Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo thanked the Revere residents who participated in the assessment process by completing the survey and by joining the discussion during community focus groups. “Over the last six months, we asked the community to tell us which public health issues matter most to them so we can address them.”

Revere residents told the assessment’s sponsors what is important to them by completing a Quality of Life survey either online or in paper form. Kitty Bowman, director of the Revere CARES coalition, said that a report on the Revere findings is under development and will be released to the public in the next few weeks. Check back at RevereCARES.org for the report.

For 17 years the MGH has conducted health assessments in partnership with Revere, mostly through Revere CARES. A new federal health care act requires all nonprofit hospitals to do community health assessments every three years. The goal of the health assessments is to produce a comprehensive picture of Revere’s overall health and a plan to improve it, taking into consideration the social determinants of health-- those economic and social conditions under which people live which determine health. The assessment process aimed to answer the questions “What is the quality of life in our community?” and “What are the most important health factors affecting Revere residents today?”

“The ideal is that collectively, we can continue to address the issues that matter most to Revere residents and therefore help improve the community’s overall health,” Bowman said.