OXFORD COUNTY — Growing concern over alcohol and drug abuse, as well as obesity rates, diabetes, smoking and a range other health indicators, will be the topic of community forums held across Oxford County aimed at helping area hospitals, the Oxford County Wellness Collaborative and other area health care providers draw up plans for making their communities healthier. Community members are invited to participate in the forums and lend their voices to a discussion about health priorities.

A partnership of Maine’s largest health care providers and the state has released its report card on how Maine is progressing on a host of factors that contribute to overall public health. Now it is up to community health care providers and community partners to come up with plans for making improvements in public health based on the data and public input.

An important part of that planning process is a series of forums scheduled throughout the state. These gatherings are meant to give community members a chance to respond to the report card, known as the 2015 Shared Community Health Needs Assessment.

This detailed report is produced every three years and contains data for each Maine county, as well as the state as a whole. Maine is unusual in that health care organizations have banded together along with the state to track health trends and facilitate a dialogue on how to make improvements — something that is required under federal law.

The Maine Shared Health Needs Assessment and Planning Process Project is a collaborative of Central Maine Health Care, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Health, MaineHealth and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is working with Stephens Memorial Hospital and Rumford Hospital, which are MaineHealth and Central Maine Health Care members, respectively, to gather community input. The Oxford County Wellness Collaborative is working with the hospitals to coordinate forums in multiple locations:

Bethel: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at Telstar High School (snow date is Jan. 30).

Paris: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (snow date is Feb. 1).

Rumford: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, at Mountain Valley High School (snow date is Feb. 9).

Members of the public are invited to participate in any of the forums. At the events, the health data will be presented and a conversation will follow about health needs — including what the data identifies and what community members perceive as needs and priorities. These discussions will be used to aid the hospitals and the Wellness Collaborative in making plans to improve health.

Free refreshments and child care will be provided at each event. The Wellness Collaborative is able to offer help with travel cost reimbursements, and reimbursement forms will be available at all of the forums. Attendance is free, but registration is requested, especially of those who plan to make use of the free child care so that enough providers can be on hand. 

If a forum needs to be postponed due to winter weather, cancelation notices will be posted on Channels 6 and 13 and the Oxford County Wellness Collaborative Facebook page. Participants may also call the collaborative.

The Oxford County Wellness Collaborative is a network of individuals and organizations who are committed to making Oxford County a healthier place to live, work, play and raise a family. The Collaborative was formed in 2011 as a result of the county-wide community reflecting on Community Health Needs Assessment data. That data, combined with troubling results from the annual County Health Rankings, prompted many to respond by forming the Collaborative to address priority health areas in a more coordinated, cohesive manner. The network is arranged around several workgroups: Healthy food, active living, community safety (focused on interpersonal violence and abuse, such as child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, etc) behavioral health (substance abuse and mental health) and community engagement.

The Oxford County Wellness Collaborative is currently administered by Healthy Oxford Hills, a Healthy Maine Partnership and a project of Stephens Memorial Hospital.

FMI, register: 207-739-6222, www.facebook.com/oxfordcwc.