A Local Approach
Healthy Living for ME (HL4ME), Maine’s statewide Community Care Hub, convened what was previously known as the Somerset & Kennebec Counties Community Partnership (SKCCP), a local community partnership comprised of representatives from health care, social services, and public health. This was one of three Rural Community Health Improvement Partnerships (R-CHIP) demonstration sites in Maine transforming how local health systems operate to better address health-related social needs and improve health outcomes. From March 2023-November 2024, SKCCP worked on establishing their partnership, conducting a detailed readiness assessment, identifying priority health-related social needs of their communities, and exploring strategies to address those needs. A federal rural health network development planning grant helped the group to narrow scope on improving clinical-community partnerships to better support the Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Dementias (ADRD) and caregiver populations. A priority project currently underway is the establishment of a centralized, comprehensive, and consistently provided caregiver guide. On a broader systems level, partners have also significantly explored cross-sector data integration and the capabilities of multiple social health access referral platforms (SHARPS); certain partners continue to participate in efforts to establish a SHARP in Maine to better support whole-person care.
From March 2023–November 2024, the hub worked on establishing their partnership, conducting a detailed readiness assessment, identifying priority health-related social needs of their communities, and exploring strategies to address those needs.
A federal rural health network development planning grant helped the group to narrow scope on improving clinical-community partnerships to better support the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and caregiver populations. A priority project currently underway is the establishment of a centralized, comprehensive, and consistently provided caregiver guide.
On a broader systems level, partners have also significantly explored cross-sector data integration and the capabilities of multiple social health access referral platforms (SHARPS); certain partners continue to participate in efforts to establish a SHARP in Maine to better support whole-person care.
