Monadnock Region Zones In on Health

Healthy Monadnock 2020 in Keene launched the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), the first comprehensive health plan of its kind in the region. It will help provide a framework to identify, define and provide strategic direction for the Region’s priority health improvement areas.

The 63-page comprehensive plan was developed for the Greater Monadnock Public Health Network (GMPHN) in Keene by the Council for Healthiest Community (CHC) with assistance from the Southwest Region Planning Commission in Keene. The CHC actively supports the work of Healthy Monadnock, a community initiative to foster and sustain a positive culture of health in the Monadnock Region.

“This is intended to be a dynamic document,” says Mary Lee Greaves, a public health nurse liaison for New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services, who also serves as the chair of the Council for Healthiest Community. The report compiles data and statistics from numerous sources (such as the Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Survey, Office of the Surgeon General, NH Health Wisdom Database, among others) to paint a picture of the health status of our population.

The goal is to be able to document any measured improvement in the five identified priority areas in the coming years, which include:

• Behavioral health
• Tobacco use
• Substance and alcohol misuse
• Obesity
• Emergency preparedness

“We believe that all the priority areas are important,” notes Greaves; the CHC engaged diverse community partners in a process to identify and evaluate current and emerging health issues, select regional public health priorities, and help plan effective interventions for these priority areas.  The five priority areas were identified through this community-based process, she says. “Over time, it is the intent of the GMPHN and CHC to develop similar content for the remaining priorities, and potentially, identify new priorities,” says Greaves.

One of the top concerns is behavioral health, the report notes. Recent data shows that there is a significant need for increased support for behavioral health services in the Region.

A community needs survey conducted by Southwestern Community Services in 2015 identified the need for more mental health services as the second highest need in the Region, closely preceded by substance abuse and addiction services. According to Healthy Monadnock, the percentage of the Region’s population experiencing frequent mental health distress — which is defined as 14 or more poor mental health days per month — increased from an estimated 8 percent of the population in 2005 to 13.7 percent of the population in 2010.

“This comprehensive document is just the first step in addressing some of these chronic issues facing our region,” says Linda Rubin, director of the Healthiest Community Initiative. “This first-of-its kind document is an invaluable resource that can be used by a wide variety of organizations to inform our own health-related strategic planning and better align our efforts with existing work,” says Rubin, noting that the document can also be used as a resource to regional government officials, employers, planners and others to learn about and measure progress toward important health targets.