State Health Improvement Plan 2024–2029 Executive Summary

The State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) provides guidance for improving the health of the state’s population to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), other agencies within the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, other state departments and agencies, and community partners. The SHIP is the result of a multi-sector collaborative process that aligns priorities and initiatives to improve health and access to health care, while working to eliminate redundancies, reduce disparities, and coordinate efforts.

The SHIP is based on four key priority areas that emerged from the 2021 Maine Shared Community Heath Needs Assessment (MSCHNA), extending beyond traditional public health programs and interventions. The SHIP statewide public health priorities underscores investing and addressing upstream factors in the public health ecosystem, such as social, economic, and commercial determinants of health AND embedding health equity in a public health approach. This approach highlights cross sector collaboration, intersectionality, and encourages collective effort.

Maine CDC is committed to the principle that all Maine residents deserve to experience health and wellbeing throughout their lifetimes. Embedding and integrating health equity into the fabric of the public health ecosystem is critical in overcoming persistent health disparities among populations experiencing a disproportionate burden of disability, morbidity, and mortality. Achieving health equity requires centering work around population health and the unique circumstances that shape different populations' well-being. This requires collecting and integrating data that targets systemic inequities, developing population focused strategies, implementing health equity data to shape policies and programming, and strategically collaborating with cross-sector community partners.

Impacting the root causes of these issues requires a collaborative state-wide approach to change the practices, policies, environments, and systems that perpetuate inequities. _The Maine 2024–2026 SHIP_offered an opportunity for Maine CDC, the SHIP Advisory Council, and its partners to incorporate health and racial equity thoughtfully and meaningfully into the SHIP from the beginning of the planning process. Achieving health equity is an ongoing effort, and through the life of the SHIP, we anticipate these elements will continue to grow and evolve.

Maine CDC engaged Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA), a Boston-based, nonprofit public health consulting firm, in the facilitation and development of the Maine 2024–2026 _State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP_). This included a multi-sector, collaborative planning process in January 2024, with several rounds of feedback and editing by Maine CDC partners.

A SHIP includes:

  1. Four key statewide public health priorities.

  2. State-level Goals with measurable and evidence-informed Objectives to address the SHIP priorities through Policy, Systems, Environmental Change and Primary Prevention Strategies.

  3. Tracking data for each objective, including indicators, baselines, targets, and sources; including the identification of population level disparities and equity data gaps and strategies to reduce these.

Once launched, the SHIP will be implemented via Annual Action Plans that include activities, person(s) responsible for implementation, and participating partners. Although, to be effective, the SHIP requires collaborative action from many partners, Maine CDC will play a key role in bringing the data to ground the work and in translating the data for action and in tracking progress. Maine CDC is committed to cultivating health equity science in all four priority areas, including applying learnings from data, research, and lived experiences to programming and partnerships.

This planning process has resulted in the following Goals and Objectives for the SHIP:

Maine SHIP Snapshot

Priority Area Goal Statements Objectives
Priority 1:  Mental Health Goal 1: Maine has an inclusive and equitable culture of mental health, resiliency, and well-being for all. 1.1:  Increase mental health literacy among youth and adults in all 16 counties and Wabanaki Nations.
1.2:   Decrease stigma around mental health.
1.3:   Improve access to mental health services.
1.4:   Increase awareness of informal or non-traditional community supports for mental health and provide skill development for those supports.
1.5:   Decrease the percentage of students who report an ACEs score of 4 or more.
1.6:   Increase coordination and collaboration across formal systems of care.
Priority 2:  Healthy and Stable Housing Goal 2: Maine has housing that equitably meets the diverse needs of all. 2.1:  Decrease the number of people experiencing homelessness.
2.2:  Increase the services available that support stable housing.
2.3:  Improve the quality, safety, and ADA accessibility of existing housing stock and the surrounding environment.
2.4:  Increase the number of collaborations among health, employers (public and private), and state and local housing organizations and agencies. (Developmental)
2.5:  Increase the supply of affordable housing in Maine.
Priority 3:  Access to Care  Goal 3: Maine is a place where all people have equitable access to care that promotes health and well-being. 3.1:  Improve the experience of care for those who have been oppressed, incorporating cultural humility, linguistic competence, and trauma-informed practices into care delivery. (Developmental Objective)
3.2:  Increase opportunities for regular system integration conversations among geographic healthcare providers and systems, public health, and community-based organizations. (Developmental Objective)
3.3:  Increase the effectiveness of recruitment and retention efforts to have the necessary number and diversity of providers in underserved areas.
3.4:  Decrease the percentage of people in Maine for whom cost is a barrier to healthcare access.
3.5:  Increase the collection and utilization of shared, inclusive, and actionable data for use by communities, health systems, and state agencies.
3.6:  Build upon existing collaborative efforts to advance transportation and telehealth solutions.
Priority 4:  Substance Use   Goal 4: All people living in Maine thrive in a healing, supportive environment that equitably addresses substance use, from prevention to recovery, and its impacts on individuals, families, and communities. 4.1:  Enhance prevention efforts to decrease the percentage of people in Maine misusing substances.
4.2:  Increase the availability and use of community-based supports along the substance use continuum of care for anyone impacted by substance use.
4.3:  Increase the availability and use of intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services.
4.4:  Reduce stigma and bias associated with substance use.

State Health Improvement Plan 2018 - 2020

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), an office of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), is responsible for providing essential public health services that preserve, promote, and protect health. However, many organizations, both public and private, share this goal. An engaged public-private collaboration assures efficient and effective services and systems. This plan reflects the public health priorities of the Maine DHHS, with significant input from our public health partners. The final content was approved by the State Coordinating Council for Public Health and Maine DHHS. It is intended to be a living, working document that will be revised as available resources change and new partner activities are identified.

The State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) is designed to improve the health of all Maine people. It focuses on five health priorities, with goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving measurable success over the next three years:

  • Cancer
  • Chronic Diseases
  • Obesity
  • Mental Health
  • Substance Abuse, including Tobacco

Links:

The State Health Improvement Plan is based on part of data from the 2016 Maine Shared Community Health Needs Assessment

If you are interested in participating in the implementation of the SHIP, please contact Nancy Birkhimer (287-5716)