Rhode Island’s hospitals identify, prioritize community health needs

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment has identified three priority health needs: behavioral health, chronic disease (diabetes and heart disease) and maternal and child health for the Hospital Association of Rhode Island’s member hospitals to focus on. According to HARI’s December 2016 Tracking Trends, HARI and many of its member hospitals worked with R.I. Department of Health and local community priorities to collect health data, seek feedback on regional and local health needs and develop coordinated plans to identify and then address priority needs. This yearlong process culminated with hospitals developing an implementation plan that identifies which priority health need or needs they will focus on, though only HARI members are participating in this process, said Amanda Barney, vice president, communications and member services at HARI. Lifespan’s Bradley, Hasbro Children’s, Newport, Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals do not belong to HARI, but they conducted their own extensive community health assessment needs. According to a Lifespan spokesperson, Lifespan hired more than a dozen liaisons – people who are members of the communities of interest – to generate interest and help facilitate community meetings. Information about Lifespan hospitals’ assessments can be found HERE. The community health assessment needs for Rhode Island Hospital, for example, are access to health care and literacy, healthy weight and nutrition, substance use disorders, cardiac health and cancer.

“Over the coming months, HARI will hold meetings with hospitals and organizations in the community that are interested in partnering with hospitals to address these areas,” said Barney. “Hospitals can then connect with the organizations to collaborate as deemed appropriate for their community.”

Limited access to behavioral health care professionals is growing more challenging, with some 7 percent of Rhode Island adults having an unaddressed mental health need, reported HARI. Although Rhode Island adults report an average of 3.6 poor mental health days over a 30-day period – consistent with national data and statewide data from the 2013 CHNA report – HARI cited the 2016 CHNA report: Adult residents in Rhode Island are more likely to be hospitalized for mental health and substance use disorders.” Nearly 22 percent of Rhode Islanders have depression, while national data reports 16 percent.

Two chronic conditions, diabetes and heart disease, are among the nation’s leading causes of disability and death. HARI reported that approximately one-third of Rhode Island adults with diabetes have not been so diagnosed; nearly 34 percent and nearly 39 percent of Rhode Islanders have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, respectively. National statistics show that slightly more than 31 percent of Americans have high blood pressure.

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While our state statistics for low birth weight babies (less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces) are slightly better than national data – 7.6 percent compared to 8.2 percent – low birth weight babies face higher risks of lifelong problems than do normal birth weight babies. Ironically, those problems are typically associated with obesity – heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Other, more immediate problems – such as inability to maintain body temperature, difficulty feeding, higher risk of infection and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – are sometimes associated with low birth weights. In Rhode Island, Caucasian women are statistically less likely to have low birth weight and premature babies; Asian and Latina women have slightly higher rates of such births and African American and Native American women have the highest rates of such births, HARI reported.

For each priority area, teams evaluated barriers to access of programs, services and initiatives; identified the underserved or most at-risk populations; proposed recommendations to improve access for those populations; and identified collaborative partners with whom hospitals could work to meet community needs. Reports filed by Butler, Kent, Memorial, South County Health, Westerly and Women & Infants hospitals are available.
According to Barney, the Providence VA Medical Center did not participate in this initiative and CharterCARE, which operates Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center, will submit its report shortly.

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