Community Health Initiatives: Our involvement
The Regional Center is involved in Community Health Initiatives in a number of different ways.
CHNAs
We are members, technical assistance providers and in some cases coordinators of the Community Health Network Areas (CHNAs) in our region. A Community Health Network Area (CHNA) is a coalition made up of representatives from public, non-profit, and private sectors. CHNA members work to build healthier communities through community-based prevention planning and health promotion. The Regional Center delivers a variety of skill building opportunities for CHNA leadership and members. These include Leadership Development, visioning, decision making models, communication flow; Partnership Development, recruitment, retention, inclusive processes, media relations; Youth Development, fostering youth membership, running youth-friendly meetings and sharing asset-based models. The RCHC also assists in creating peer learning and networking opportunities, membership outreach and orientation and facilitated retreats for revitalizing or refocusing the steering committees. Many CHNAs are beginning in-depth health assessments and evaluations of their work. The RCHC is helping to design and facilitate those processes.
Substance Abuse Prevention Coalitions
Through our funding from the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Department of Public Health, the Regional Center is able to provide intensive technical assistance and capacity building to four substance abuse coalitions in our region. These are Somerville Cares About Prevention, the Cambridge Prevention Coalition, Impact Quincy and the Watertown Youth Coalition. We also support many other substance abuse prevention coalitions through quarterly Inter-coalition meetings and through consultancy.
Healthy Communities
The Regional Center works closely with the MassPartnership for Healthy Communities to provide communities with the capacity to lead their city or town through an inclusive process to improve community health.
Other Community Health Initiatives
In addition to the support that we provide for coalitions as described above, the Regional Center often takes on projects that compliment and strengthen the prevention and health promotion work that we can do throughout the region.