East Shore District Health Department

ESDHD CHIP
Since 2015, ESDHD has been working with many of our partners in the ESDHD Community Health Improvement Board.  Together with other local agencies, residents, town, and State departments, ESDHD addresses three areas of interest: Access to Services, Healthy Lifestyles, and Mental Health and Addiction.

Access to Health: Access to Services for our residents was a major concern to most of the CHIP Board. While Public Health has long held the belief that access to healthcare is a vital piece of the Public Health Mission, it was clear to our community group that the social determinants (food, employment, housing, utilities, etc.) were just as important as whether residents had access to the doctor.

Healthy Lifestyles: The area of Healthy Lifestyles was highlighted in the 2020 ESDHD Community Health Assessment (CHA). This area encompasses many of the CHA results: physical activity, nutrition, smoking, alcohol, drug use, and getting check-ups and screenings. The ESDHD CHA results showed that 23% of those who participated in the survey reported that they do not get enough physical activity. When looking at self-reported nutrition, 48% of those who responded to the survey reported eating 1-2 servings of fruits or vegetables daily, 35% reported eating 3-4 servings, and 9% reported eating 5-6 servings. The largest barrier to eating healthy was reported as “financial.” Our goal is to increase the percentage of residents who adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Mental Health and Addiction: Our third priority was born of the Community Health Assessment and the current opioid crisis.  In the 2020 ESDHD CHA data, it was shown that an average of 18% of residents who took the survey reported being told by their healthcare professional that they suffer from depression and 22% reported anxiety. We have two goals in this area.

Goal 1: Reduce the stigma of mental health diagnoses and treatments. Spread the tools and resources to the public that can help people deal with the stress of everyday living.

Goal 2: Bring Harm reduction practices for substance abuse to the district, such as Narcan training, resources for treatment, needle exchange, etc.

To see our 2024 CHIP Plan please go to this link.

• Town of Branford
• Town of East Haven
• Town of North Branford

Among the partners we work with are:

• Social Services of North Branford and East Haven
• BH Care
• Branford Counseling Center
• Schools, Churches and Senior Centers of Branford, North Branford and East Haven
• St. Raphael’s Hospital and Yale New Haven Hospital
• Health Occupation Student Association (HOSA– East Haven High School Chapter)
• Neighboring Health Departments
• Yale University
• Southern CT State University
• University of New Haven
• University of Hartford
• The Community Dining Room
• VNA Community Healthcare
• WIC (Women, Infants and Children)
• LAMPP (Lead Action for Medicaid Primary Prevention)