Community Health Assessments and Action Plans

Healthy Acadia staff, state agencies, municipalities, and community partners work together to compile and use data, conduct health needs assessments and action plans, and promote policies that create healthy and vibrant communities. Data is critical for prioritizing health problems. Health assessments and action plans serve as roadmaps to help guide our work and the work of community partners, to address the needs of community members, and to engage individuals and organizations in taking action. Policies help ensure lasting improvement in the health of our communities. Community health initiatives improve quality of life, save money, reduce human suffering, and help our children, families and communities thrive.  

Community Health Needs Assessment

Maine Shared Health Needs Assessment and Planning 

The Maine Shared Health Needs Assessment and Planning Process is a collaboration between Maine CDC, Central Maine Healthcare, Northern Light Health, MaineGeneral Health, and MaineHealth that creates Shared Community Health Needs Assessment Reports and works to engage communities in taking data-driven action for health improvements. Healthy Acadia is an active partner in the health needs assessment and planning process in Hancock and Washington counties.

To explore the reports, health profiles at the state, county, and sub-population level, and other interactive data, click here.

Healthy Acadia also engages in community-level participatory planning processes that bring together hundreds of diverse community voices as well as the latest community and health data. We develop health assessments and action plans that help guide our work and can serve as road maps and resources for other organizations across the region.

Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey

The Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS) began in 2009 and is administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Education in February of odd-numbered years to assess the health status of Maine’s youth. Its purpose is to quantify the health of Kindergarten and Grade 3 students through height, weight, and oral health examinations, and the health-related behaviors and attitudes of youth in grades 5 through 12 by direct student survey. Topics include: substance use, bullying and violence, unintentional injuries, sexual behavior, health status (including oral health) and disabilities, physical activity, weight control and nutrition, suicide/depression, and developmental assets. 

The MIYHS data includes reports and fact sheets that present Maine, County and Public Health District reports. 

Click here to access the 2023 MIYHS Data Results.

District Public Health Improvement Plan

Public Health Improvement Plans are available for each of the Maine’s eight public health districts. Healthy Acadia is a member of the Downeast Public Health District, which encompasses Hancock and Washington County. 

The Downeast District Public Health Improvement Plan identifies our public health priorities in order to create a multi-year plan of objectives, strategies, and outcomes for District action and is developed by the Downeast District Public Health Council. The Council is a district-wide body of public and private organizations and agencies formed in partnership with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) to engage in collaborative planning and decision-making for the delivery of the Ten Essential Public Health Services in the Downeast Public Health District. 

In the 2017-2019 Downeast District Public Health Improvement Plan, the Downeast Public Health Council (DEPHC) identified the following priorities:

  • Build Better Cardiovascular Health (Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity)

  • Improve Mental Health focused on Early Childhood Ages

  • Prevent Alcohol and Drug Use

  • Build Awareness for Prevention of Cancer

Click here to view or download a copy of the Downeast Public Health Improvement Plan.

Additional Health Data

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest, telephonic health survey system, which tracks a wide range of health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

County Health Rankings are conducted for nearly every county in the nation and show what we know when it comes to making people sick or healthy. The County Health Roadmaps illustrate what we can do to create healthier places to live, learn, work and play. 

KIDS COUNT Data Center

Supported by the Casey Foundation, KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state project to track the  of U.S. children, which includes measures of educational, social, economic, and physical well-being.