Lower Cape Health Assessment Identifies Gaps

BREWSTER – Between April and July, Barnstable County, Lower Cape health departments and a consulting firm conducted a comprehensive community health needs assessment in Brewster, Harwich, Chatham and Orleans as part of the Public Health Excellence Grant program. 

The findings were presented earlier this month to the Brewster Board of Health, Health Director Amy Von Hone and Assistant Health Director Sherrie McCullough. 

The objective of the assessment was to understand the current resources available in each town, identify the impacted populations and implement new plans that will help raise the standard of current programs. 

The study found that the Lower Cape has a large population of senior citizens, with Brewster’s median age being 57. It also found that more than six percent of households speak a language other than English, and about one in 10 seniors live alone. While single-home prices are increasing, housing stock is decreasing and food insecurity is up nearly 20 percent.   

Anonymous surveys on predetermined topics provided first-hand accounts. Through the surveys, it was found that “Issues in these towns do exist, but certain members of the community have such a deep stigma about things like substance abuse and mental health that they never want to talk about it.” 

The study also identified a lack of programs for adults and teens.

“We don’t have teen activity centers. We don’t have robust adult programming that is economically reasonable and available.” 

The community survey found that Brewster residents were struggling with primary care services and healthcare for the elderly. They are looking for more educational programs that focus on healthy aging, skin cancer screenings and sun safety. Von Hone noted that programs like this do exist, but it’s just “a matter of getting the word out.” She recognized that the health department needs to “rebrand itself” after COVID 19 as a resource for residents to either utilize their services or introduce them to other services in the area. 

After detailing this data, Public Health Shared Services Manager Katie O’Neil grouped the needed improvements into six categories: community education, substance use, mental health, community wellbeing, preventative healthcare and community infrastructure.   

 “So, what’s the next step now,” asked health board vice chair John Stewart Keith.

Since the grant isn’t ending anytime soon, the next initiative is to hire a community health educator and start to prioritize which programs to implement for all towns on Cape Cod. This will likely be taking place over the next few months.