Resource  Community Health Equity Initiative

The Community Health Equity Initiative (CHEI) aims to understand the social and structural causes of health in Massachusetts to support community, state, and local action.

Organization: Department of Public Health Bureau of Community Health and Prevention
Date published: July 31, 2023

Introduction

Take the Community Health Equity Survey. For flyers and other promotional resources, visit the Community Health Equity Survey Promotion Toolkit.

The Community Health Equity Initiative (CHEI) collects data on the social and structural causes of health needs facing Massachusetts residents, specifically among communities who are disproportionately affected by health emergencies. Through this data collection CHEI strives to help communities, along with state and local partners, prioritize changes to policy and how and where resources go. 

CHEI was previously known as CCIS, the COVID-19 Community Impact Survey. For more information about CCIS, please visit About the CCIS.  

News and Updates

Join DPH and Health Resources in Action (HRiA) to learn more about the Community Health Equity Survey!

The Community Health Equity Survey aims to help communities address barriers to health by collecting data on the social and structural health needs facing Massachusetts residents, specifically those disproportionately affected by health inequities. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health will use survey results to improve programs, make decisions about funding and resources, and support policies to improve health inequities. CHES continues efforts that began in 2021 with the COVID-19 Community Impact Survey (CCIS).

The information collected will help DPH and community partners determine how best to allocate funding, improve programming, and develop policies to address health inequities.  

During these webinars, DPH & HRiA will share more about the survey, outreach materials available and answer any questions. All webinars will be in English and simultaneous ASL interpretation. Please send any other language interpretation needs for the September 5th and September 14th webinars at least 5 days before the scheduled event, by emailing cespinosamarrero@hria.org.

When: Monday, August 28th
Time: 4pm-5pm EST
Register here

When: Tuesday, September 5th
Time: 3pm-4pm
Register here

When: Thursday, September 14th
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
Register here

Take the Community Health Equity Survey

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is committed to better serving communities that experience barriers to health. The Community Health Equity Survey was developed in collaboration with community members and partners across the state and reflects the priorities and experiences of Massachusetts residents. The information you share will help DPH and community partners determine how best to allocate funding, improve programming, and develop policies to address health inequities.  

Who should take this survey? This survey is intended for anyone over the age of 14 who lives in Massachusetts. DPH specifically seeks to hear from communities who have been impacted by health inequities.  

How to take the survey: You can take the survey online with a computer, phone or tablet. It will take around 15-30 minutes to complete. You can choose to complete the survey in Arabic, Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese (simplified or traditional), English, Haitian Creole, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can also take the survey in American Sign Language later this summer. 

All survey responses are anonymous and cannot be traced back to you. 

Take the survey: mass.gov/healthsurvey

Community Health Equity Survey (CHES) 2023 Resources:

CCIS 2020 Resources:

CCIS 2020 Topic and Community Spotlights

Each CCIS 2020 spotlight features a set of slides available for download along with a pre-recorded webinar that highlights key findings. Please watch the CCIS Introduction webinar and view the slides to understand how the CCIS was conducted and how to interpret and act upon the results.

To learn more about how people have used CCIS data to address critical pandemic needs, please watch the CCIS: Reflecting on Impact & Looking Ahead webinar and view the accompanying slides:

Contact

Online

Email: chei@mass.gov
Website: mass.gov/chei 

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