Wellesley Board of Health reviews Community Health Needs Assessment, plans distribution and further school analysis

Trendline Analysis presented the Town of Wellesley's Community Health Needs Assessment to the Board of Health during the Jan. 8, 2026 meeting, outlining findings and answering questions from board members and staff.

Vice Chair Linda Oliver Grape asked whether college-age groups were included and whether student interviews came from public or private schools. Kendall Bennett of Trendline said Trendline spoke with administrators at local colleges and that the student cohort included only public-school students, while administrators at several private schools were interviewed.

Board members and staff focused on how to reach different resident groups once the report is finalized. Ann Marie McCauley, the Health Department’s public health nursing supervisor, said communicating information to residents is challenging. Director Lenny Izzo noted previous mailings and multiple digital newsletters can produce information overload for stakeholders. The board agreed the Health Department and Trendline should develop a distribution plan and review the full report by the next BOH meeting on Jan. 22, 2026.

Dr. Shira Doron asked about drivers of poor mental health identified in the assessment. Kendall Bennett said school administrators most often cited screen usage and concern about overcommitment and high expectations for students; she recommended running cross-tabs using Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data to explore those patterns further. Michael Russo of Trendline suggested additional data compilation for the school surveys, and Dr. Doron proposed producing a short Board of Health executive summary to accompany distribution.

The board indicated next steps: the Board will review the CHNA before the Jan. 22 meeting, and Trendline and the Health Department will return with a distribution plan and possible targeted survey work to deepen findings related to youth mental health and college-age residents.