Assessment of the capacity of local health departments to address the health impacts of climate change in Massachusetts

Evidence indicates that the health effects of climate change will be felt most directly and severely at the local level; thus, local health departments will need to prepare to serve as the front line for delivering health services to the public. Unlike many states in the U.S. that have county health departments, Massachusetts has local boards of health (LBOH) for each of its 351 cities and towns. As part of the CRSCI cooperative agreement, MDPH/BEH conducted a survey aimed to assess the capacity of local boards of health (LBOH) in Massachusetts to respond to the public health impacts associated with climate change and to develop plans for reducing these health impacts. An important finding of the survey is that, although the majority (60%) of LBOH believe that their community is likely to experience serious climate-related public health problems, most local health departments in the Commonwealth have not prioritized these problems, feel unprepared and under-resourced and/or lack the expertise to adequately respond to these issues. LBOH identified several areas that MDPH could provide assistance including training sessions that critically examine best practices to more effectively address the impacts of local climate change, developing educational templates for translating climate change science and other relevant information for their community, and developing decision support tools (e.g., health impacts assessments, HIAs) for use at the local level to develop sustainable adaptation plans.