UNE Center for Community and Public Health completes report for Community Health Needs Assessment
OneMaine Health, a collaboration between Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Health and MaineHealth, today announced the release of Maine's first comprehensive, statewide community health needs assessment.
The three health systems will work closely with Maine hospitals and Healthy Maine Partnerships to host local forums to share the information, begin discussions and develop action plans based on the report's findings.
OneMaine Health contracted with the UNE's Center for Community and Public Health to conduct the community health needs assessment. The Muskie School and Market Decisions, Inc. helped complete the report.
The community health needs assessment process included developing and analyzing a comprehensive health profile by county using data from a health survey of more than 6,400 households and Maine vital statistics, cancer registry and hospital and emergency department data.
The community health needs assessment examined health status, use of health services, access and barriers to care and other factors affecting the health of Maine people. The in-depth report will help communities make decisions about the future of healthcare and prevention in their areas by identifying how their communities compare to the state on many dimensions of health.
Major Health Issues
The findings point out several major health issues facing Maine, including:
- chronic disease care (e.g. diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease),
- cancer rates,
- levels of obesity,
- smoking and illicit drug use, and
- access to dental and mental health services.
Each health system will post the full community health needs assessment report on its website. By mid-April, county-level reports will be available.
Presentations
Numerous presentations are planned in communities across the state so health care providers, citizens, business and legislative leaders can learn first-hand about the report's findings. Invitations to these presentations will be extended beginning in May. These sessions will also provide an opportunity to share thoughts about the future of health care in Maine and how to address local health issues.