LYNN — In an attempt to better understand and address the city’s health needs, the Health Department is looking for an agency to partner with for an estimated year-long Community Health Assessment project.
Applicants’ proposals will be under review Tuesday, Oct. 4. Public Health Director Michelle Desmarais said that the large community health assessment will report on everything from food insecurity, to high blood pressure and diabetes. She said that in the years following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important that her department can address and understand the particular health issues the community faces.
“I want to see, as a community, where everybody stands,” Desmarais said. “Since the height of the pandemic, we still have a pandemic, but I want to know where my health department can go in and assist the residents from a community health perspective.”
Desmarais said that the assessment’s results can serve as a basis for the department to establish new health programs in an effective way. When asked what particular health issues she would be able to predict on the surveys, she mentioned housing and food insecurity, along with diabetes and high blood pressure.
Although the assessment’s primary focus centers around community health services, the assessment, along with the department’s response to its results, can aid the Lynn Health Department in its aim to earn state Public Health Accreditation.
“It’s a goal of mine, and it has been for quite some time, that I would love to see the Lynn Health Department accredited by the state. We have not been able to be accredited before because we didn’t have enough employees. Since the pandemic, we are able to meet the employee requirements,” Desmarais said.
Once the department selects a planning agency, the two organizations will work together to decide which particular modes of community engagement would be most effective for the assessment process. Public Health Coordinator Norris Guscott said that no matter how the process irons out, the department will have to engage with a large sample of residents from all parts of Lynn.
“ It has to be a statistically significant amount, it has to be focus groups and different in all areas of Lynn,” Guscott said. “At the very basic essence, we’re going to need to hear from a few focus groups in all parts of the city.”
Guscott said that a part of the process will involve assessing the capabilities and capacities of the department itself.
“The other part is taking stock of things like how many full-service supermarkets are there for food insecurity? How many housing resources are there?” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to address a lot of the social determinants of health, and the clinical determinants of health for Lynn residents, too. We’re pretty excited to have it.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected]
