Jennifer Kertanis of Granby is excited. As director of the Farmington Valley Health Department, Kertanis leads a team that in 2022 conducted a Community Health Assessment (CHA) among the 10 towns that her agency serves and has now released the agency’s first Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).
“There’s nothing more rewarding than leading the agency charged with the public’s health and collaborating with partners to create communities where people can thrive,” Kertanis said. “Nearly 80 percent of premature heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes diagnoses can be prevented.”
CHIP outlines how Kertanis and her team are addressing priority health areas, including healthy eating and active living, mental health, optimal well-being for older adults and emerging environmental health concerns.
Community partners and experts met in work groups charged with identifying each community’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges and partner organizations that might advance their work.
After developing goals and strategies, each group determined the actions necessary to achieve each goal.
Healthy eating and active living
The focus here is to improve access to and affordability of healthy lifestyle options, to create environments that encourage healthy behavior and to increase the number of people following healthy diets and exercising regularly. “Fifty percent of the adult population in our towns are overweight or obese, which leads to significant health concerns,” Kertanis said.
Mental Health
Removing the stigma associated with mental health challenges and improving access to early intervention programs and services are among this effort’s goals. Increasing opportunities for learning self-help skills, promoting awareness of local mental health resources, encouraging local organizations to promote free community workshops and promoting stress-reduction techniques and resilience skill building are key.
Optimal well-being for older adults
CHIP will focus on increasing awareness and understanding of the value of an older population, improving access to essential services and resources and creating environments that support an older population.
“It’s important that issues of aging are considered in local policies, including access to affordable housing,” Kertanis said.
Emerging environmental health concerns
Increased temperatures, more frequent and intense heat waves and altered precipitation patterns can lead to heat-related illnesses, respiratory issues from poor air quality and mental health challenges, Kertanis said.
Educating residents about public health threats associated with climate change and promoting environmental conditions that support good health are key.
Residents will learn the importance of testing their homes for radon, and radon test kits will be available to this end. Schools will receive expert information on indoor air filtration.
“We want people in our communities to know that their health department is working hard on disease prevention,” Kertanis said. “Anyone who would like to get involved in our work is encouraged to read the CHIP and join one of our committees.”
The full Community Health Improvement Plan is available online at fvhd.org or call the FVHD at 860-352-2333 to request a copy by mail.