Health Study

Town Hall
75 Middle Street
Weymouth, MA 02189
Tel: 781-340-5008
Fax: 781-682-6112
Clinic Information: 781-682-3579

Weymouth Health Needs Assessment 2003

Four years ago the Town of Weymouth secured funds for the unique opportunity to look at the health needs and concerns of its citizens in a detailed and objective manner. In designing the study, the Board of Health was cognizant that the monies, while substantial, were not unlimited. Balances would need to be achieved between data collection and remediation and between a global look at health issues and a more focused one.

The final result evolved from the input and expertise of four major sources:

• The collective wisdom of the past and present members of the Board of Health and the Town’s Health Department in listening to and dealing with the health concerns of the community for many years.
• The suggestions from the medical community as to the issues facing them and their patients.
• The assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in framing the survey around the bigger picture of regional and state health issues.
• The expertise of JSI in designing a valid survey instrument to achieve our objectives and in helping to interpret the results.

As the project developed, certain health issues were excluded from the study. We did not want to duplicate data generally available already from other sources (e.g., the State Cancer Surveillance results). We did not want to focus on subjects outside the scope of a survey that needed to be studied on a comprehensive level by more sophisticated research methods (e.g., health issues related to the Naval Air Station).

While the survey touches on a broad range of topics, it attempts to center on those issues that (1) allowed us to compare our results with state and national benchmarks (e.g., the school survey on risk behavior assessment); (2) looked at data specific to the town that might not be available from any other source (e.g., issues of the elderly and their caregivers); (3) provided objective measures of health needs that would have the greatest impact in seeking resources and funding for remediation (e.g., mental health, drugs and alcohol use, geriatric health).

Although the household and school surveys were administered separately, the results paint a composite picture of the Town’s health needs and should be viewed as a whole. The issues cannot and should not be separated if the solutions are to be effective. In interpreting and using this data it is important to keep in mind that the health survey was never intended to be a scientific, peer-reviewed epidemiological study of any issue. Rather it is a statistically valid survey measuring the community’s health and medical needs.

What have we hoped to achieve? The purpose was to look at a broad spectrum of medical issues, concentrating on some in order to objectively determine the health needs of the community giving the citizens and the leadership of Weymouth the necessary information to set priorities and focus resources for remediation where best needed.

The picture that emerges from this data is a town that is generally healthy, has near universal access to health care, has a deep awareness of health issues, and understands the commitment needed to solve problems. This survey points the way; now the real work begins to make the Town even healthier.

Respectfully,

Weymouth Board of Health