In partnership with the Greater Lowell Health Alliance, Lowell General Hospital in 2022 commissioned researchers and students from the University of Massachusetts Lowell to conduct a community health needs assessment to identify the unmet medical and public health needs within the Greater Lowell community. The geographic area assessed included the communities of Lowell, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough and Westford. A similar study was conducted in 2019, 2016, 2013 and 2010.
The study had two key objectives. One objective was to fulfill state and federal requirements of Lowell General Hospital to conduct a Comprehensive Health Needs Assessment every three years. The second and ultimately more important objective was to generate a study that would provide a foundation for the GLHA and its partners, including Lowell General, to build consensus on the area’s priority health needs and develop action plans to improve the health of the area’s residents. The study will prove useful in helping to form the Greater Lowell Health Alliance’s long-term agenda and strategy, with a goal to help meet the unmet healthcare needs and strengthen the area’s health system.
This year’s 130-page report is the product of 2,055 survey responses, 26 focus groups and 30 key informant interviews, as well as data collection and analysis. It identified the top 10 health priorities as, in order:
- Mental health
- Chronic health and wellness, including heart health and nutrition
- Substance and alcohol use
- COVID-19 and other infectious diseases
- Reproductive, sexual and pregnancy health
- Lung and breathing health
- Cancer
- Infant and child health
- Environmental health
- Violence
If you would like to provide written feedback on the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, please send to community.benefit.program@tuftsmedicine.org.