2022
New Hampshire
Health Assessment
and Improvement Plan
Welcome to NH Lives Well!
With support from the NH Department of Health and Human Services, the NH State Health Assessment and Improvement Plan Advisory Council developed NH Lives Well in 2020 as a framework for the most recent State Health Assessment and State Health Improvement Plan.
The phrase “NH Lives Well” comes from our vision of how we want people in NH to experience health and wellness: in all places, in all ways.
The purpose of this website is to share important information from the most recent New Hampshire State Health Assessment and the State Health Improvement Plan.
Our Vision
We envision a time where all people in NH have equitable opportunity to flourish and achieve optimal mental, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional wellness. We believe:
- Equity is shaped at state and local levels such that individuals and communities have equitable access to opportunities
- Wellness happens where people live, learn, work, and play
- People include individuals and families across the lifespan
What did we want to explore?
- Who are we as a people?
- What is impacting how we experience health and wellness?
- What resources exist to help make improvements?
Our Framework
The State Health Assessment has been developed using the following domains: Access to Opportunity, Health Status and Outcomes, Community, and Social Connectedness.
Central to this framework are the understandings that health and wellness are defined differently by every person, and that special attention must be paid to the underlying issues that prevent some communities from experiencing the best health possible.
Access to Opportunity describes some of the key factors that enable the achievement of optimal mental, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional wellness. Many of these factors are referred to as the “Social Determinants of Health.”
Community looks at the things that impact the environments where the people live, learn, work, and play. This domain considers a wide range of data, including access to transportation, housing quality, green space, and safety.
Health Status and Outcomes focuses on more traditional physical and mental health measures, including how people experience the healthcare system.
Social Connectedness illustrates how involved people are in their communities, how included they feel, and how they participate in civic activities like voting and volunteering.