Community Health
Informing, educating and empowering people about public health issues is one of the ten essential services of public health. NVHD follows these nationally recognized essential services in its planning and delivery of services. The health district seeks to provide accessible health information and resources to reinforce health promotion messages and programs. This page provides health education information on various public health topics.
The Community Health Division mainly focuses on the following:
Immunizations for Children and Adults
- A wide variety of vaccines are available to our community through our Community Health Division. The CT Vaccine for Children program offers vaccines for free or at a low cost for children depending on insurance status.
- NVHD provides seasonal flu vaccine clinics throughout the six towns.
Health Promotion, Education and Grants Management
- Coordinate community health education programs, which include; lead poisoning education and evidence-based programs like A Matter of Balance Fall Prevention Program, LiveWell with Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP), LiveWell Chronic Pain Self-Management Program, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention, Mental Health First Aid, and more!
- Submit grant applications to obtain funds to support various public health initiatives and interventions that are important in our community. Topics include but are not limited to: asthma, lead poisoning prevention, fall prevention and overdose prevention.
Communicable Disease Surveillance and Reporting
- Monitor disease-reporting by physicians and laboratories in order to track trends and impact of disease in our community.
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
- Vector-borne diseases are infections transmitted through the bite of infected blood-feeding arthropods (vectors) such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.
- Vectors can carry infectious pathogens (germs) such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that upon transmission become the causative agents of common diseases such as Lyme, Anaplasmosis/Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, West Nile Fever, Zika, Dengue, and Malaria.
- Zoonoses, such as Avian Flu and Rabies, are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans by either contact with the animals or through vectors that carry zoonotic pathogens to from animals to humans.
- For more information, click here.