Community Health Assessment
Background
What is a Community Health Assessment?
A community health assessment (CHA) is a collaborative process that identifies key health needs and issues through systematic, comprehensive data collection and analysis. CHAs provide information on a variety of health topics and help identify resources which assist with policy formulation, program implementation, and evaluation. CHAs are also a crucial component of accreditation as they help measure how well a public health system is fulfilling the assurance function, one of the three fundamental purposes of public health. The Greater Nashua CHA is part of an ongoing comprehensive community health improvement process.
Why do we do a Community Health Assessment?
The purpose of the CHA is to identify vulnerable populations using comparable data within the Greater Nashua Public Health Region (GNPHR) and to subsequently identify trends in health issues, environmental health hazards, and social and economic factors that affect the populations’ health.
Collected and analyzed data will be used to identify priority issues within the GNPHR and develop strategies for further action which are outlined in the form of a community health improvement plan (CHIP). The CHIP creates a foundation for a work plan to improve the health of the community over the course of three years’ time.
Overview of Greater Nashua
The four geographies mentioned most often throughout this report are the City of Nashua, the GNPHR, Hillsborough County, and the State of New Hampshire (NH).
Throughout the State of NH, there are 13 public health regions. The GNPHR is composed of the City of Nashua and its 12 surrounding towns which include Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Pelham, and Wilton. The mission of the Greater Nashua Public Health Network (GNPHN) is to facilitate access to programs and services that develop resiliency, promote healthy behaviors, and safeguard the health of the GNPHR through partner engagement and collaboration.
Health Equity
Health equity is achieved within a community when every person has the opportunity to attain their full health potential. This occurs when no one is disadvantaged from achieving their best health due to social position or other socially determined circumstances. Throughout this report, you will find data on race, ethnicity, gender, income level, education, and other socioeconomic factors. At the bottom of each page is a section to show how health inequities are reflected in length of life; quality of life; rates of disease, disability, and death; severity of disease; and access to treatment.
Racism as a Public Health Issue
Throughout our nation, many states have declared racism as a public health crisis. Racism affects the health of a community by preventing some people the opportunity to attain their full health potential. As a driving force of the social determinants of health and a barrier to health equity, the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services has identified racism as a public health priority. By doing so, we are committed to prioritizing racial equity at the core of our work, advocating for policies that improve health in communities of color, and educating about the impact racism has on our community.
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Special Thanks to Our Partners
As the Director of the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude for having the opportunity to serve the City of Nashua and the Greater Nashua Public Health Region in the efforts of protecting, promoting, and preserving the health of all our community members.
I am very impressed with both the quantity and quality of work that has gone into completing this Community Health Assessment. We took great efforts to collect relevant and current health data to demonstrate the assets, gaps, improvements, and resources in our community. This assessment is a testament once again of successful collaboration with our partnering organizations and stakeholders, as we all strive to improve the health and well being of our community and region through our delivery of the core functions and essential services of public health.
I wish to thank the organizations that contributed to the work of this assessment and the data provided in the document to help better inform our community and region of its health status and areas that we can continue to work on improving. I am very grateful for your involvement as observed in the hours many of you have volunteered with the staff of the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services during hours of planning, data collection, and reviewing of chapters.
And lastly, but not least, I am extremely proud of the staff contributions to this assessment and their daily work and accomplishments. We are looking forward to continuing our partnerships as we move towards the next phase of creating a safer and healthier greater Nashua together.
Sincerely,
Bobbie D. Bagley - Director, Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services
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