Community Needs Assessments
A number of community organizations that serve rural populations have approached NU-RHIC for assistance with conducting community health needs assessments. Faculty and student teams have been assembled to respond to these requests, and here we highlight three: The Dempsey Center (which serves people with cancer, their families, and survivors); the Maine Mobile Health Program, which serves seasonal and migrant farmworkers; and the Rural Maternity Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) initiative, a statewide network focused on improving perinatal health in rural Maine. In Franklin County, we also carried out a needs assessment with librarians to find out their perceptions of patrons’ digital health needs and use patterns.
The Libraries Health Connect Program
The Libraries Health Connect Program is a Maine State Libraries (MSL) initiative to establish telehealth sites at public libraries in Maine. For their Health Sciences capstone project, two undergraduate students at Northeastern worked with MSL on a service project to expand awareness and utilization of the Health Connect program.
Dempsey Center
The Dempsey Center is a community-based cancer support center in Maine that provides services to people living with cancer, survivors, family members and caretakers. In 2026, the Dempsey Center asked NU-RHIC/Roux faculty for assistance with an analysis of focus groups conducted as part of their community needs assessment. This is the report from this analysis.
Franklin County Digital Literacy project
This April 2024 Community Collaborators' Meeting presentation documents a health literacy initiative targeting Franklin County public libraries. A needs assessment survey was administered to all 12 libraries via Qualtrics, receiving 16 responses from 11 libraries through multiple rounds of email and phone outreach. The survey revealed that most libraries operate with only one staff member, lack private spaces for patrons, and serve a wide age range of visitors.