EVERETT COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP

The Everett Community Health Improvement Partnership (ECHP) is a collaborative initiative of the Cambridge Health Alliance, the City of Everett and members of the Everett community. The mission of ECHP is to improve the health and quality of life of the people of Everett by creating opportunities for individuals, families and organizations to work collaboratively and strategically in addressing important challenges facing the community. At the core of all ECHP activities is the desire to increase communication, encourage interdependence, enhance capacity and ensure that critical health data and information are made easily accessible and shared.

ECHP is guided by the principles of Healthy Communities:

• A broad definition of health that goes beyond the absence of disease to address root causes and prevention strategies
  

• A collaborative, consensus-based approach to problem-solving that involves a diverse group of people representative of the Everett community
  

• An assets approach that defines people and relationships based on their skills and abilities rather than their needs and deficits
  

• A systems perspective that addresses community challenges through the implementation of broad, long-term, and high-impact projects and interventions
  

• An approach guided by consistent evaluation of progress and outcomes
  

• An approach that realizes shared community values and projects those values into a compelling vision of the future

ECHP recognizes that health is greatly influenced by many things around us, including social, economic, political, and environmental factors as well as our own behaviors.

Core activities include: coordinating and networking Everett community prevention efforts; participating in the provision of education, training and technical assistance services to the community at large; collecting, assessing, and disseminating community health data; community visioning; and coordinating systems change efforts

ECHP supports community organizations and coalitions that work on a multitude of issues that affect health and quality of life, including substance abuse prevention, children's health care access and advocacy, children's oral health, nutrition and physical activity promotion, domestic violence prevention, elder mental health, immigrant health, and environmental change and improvement.

Since 2003 ECHP has helped facilitate the implementation of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey; obtained federal grant funds to develop and begin implementing a home-bound elder mental health program; and obtained state grant funds to begin a teen pregnancy prevention program and an oral health program for Head Start children. ECHP coordinates the Everett Substance Abuse Coalition and provides strategic planning and program implementation assistance to the Joint Committee for Children's Health Care in Everett and the Mayor's Multicultural Affairs Commission.

ECHP has written the first Everett Community Health Assessment report and is currently in the process of developing a Guide to Everett Community Groups and Coalitions.

To find out more about the Everett Community Health Partnership (ECHP) or to become involved with this work, please see the contact information above.