PORTLAND, Maine — A profile of Portland has been published, chalked full of data and research over the last year. It was presented Wednesday at a residents’ forum at the East End Community Center.
The Health of Portland Report compares the municipality to Cumberland County and the state, to drive a community conversation. Those in attendance say their priorities focused on substance abuse, tobacco and vaping, cancer, and maternal and child health, but the report goes into detail about everything from demographics to environmental health, and death and dying.
Health officials said the findings from the forums will be included the Community Health Improvement Plan which is scheduled to be published in July.
“It kind of gave us exactly what we are looking for, which was a perspective other than ours," Bridget Rauscher, the manager for the Chronic Disease Prevention Program said. “We are going to be analyzing the feedback that we've gotten and really look at the priorities and aligning those with the goals of the public health division for three through five years.”
The report has been translated into five languages.