Brookline Department of Public Health is located in Brookline, MA.

In 2018, Brookline, MA had a population of 59.2k people with a median age of 34 and a median household income of $113,515. Between 2017 and 2018 the population of Brookline, MA declined from 59,246 to 59,234, a -0.0203% decrease and its median household income grew from $111,289 to $113,515, a 2% increase.

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Brookline, MA are White (Non-Hispanic) (69.6%), Asian (Non-Hispanic) (15.9%), White (Hispanic) (4.52%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (3.47%), and Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (2.89%). NaNk% of the people in Brookline, MA speak a non-English language, and 85% are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Brookline, MA are BCI (319 degrees awarded in 2017), Newbury College (170 degrees), and The New England Institute of Art (90 degrees).

The median property value in Brookline, MA is $885,700, and the homeownership rate is 50.5%. Most people in Brookline, MA commute by Drove Alone, and the average commute time is 27.2 minutes. The average car ownership in Brookline, MA is 1 car per household.

The Brookline Department of Public Health firmly believes the most effective approach to prevention of disease is to act quickly and swiftly. As a result, Brookline was one of the first towns across the nation to implement contact tracing and mandatory face-coverings in public. Other components of our response included weekly publications, town hall meetings and efforts to limit large gatherings of people (i.e. during elections). We believe our approach has been fundamental to the relatively low burden of disease in Brookline.

As mentioned above, the Brookline Department of Public Health was one of the first townships to implement mandatory face-coverings on April 17, 2020. We greatly invested in town-wide communication of this mandate via posters, advertisements and social media campaigns. We believe our approach to quickly encourage and normalize the use of masks was critical in keeping COVID levels in Brookline relatively low. Beyond our mask campaign, we also implemented an eviction moratorium in April to ensure members of the Brookline community could still practice safe social distancing protocols and to relieve stress during a financially burdensome time. Finally, in response to the latest data on transmission from the CDC and other top agencies, the Department of Health continuously updated regulations for food and retail establishments to ensure the highest level of safety for both employees and patrons.

Lastly, we discontinued normal operations of inspections by Environmental Health staff and they became contact tracers along with school nurses and MRC volunteers.  This was the only collaborative in the State of Massachuesetts to employ this model if not the country.  This model employed a total of 25 individuals including the Health Commissioner to conduct contact tracing.

• Statement of the specific public health problem / what target population was affected by the program (include demographics, if possible). 
  • How was the public health program affected by COVID-19 or what aspect of COVID-19 did your new program address? Our innovative program targeted Brookline residents and worked directly with the Select Board to reduce COVID19 in Brookline, MA. Our cases are the lowest per population in the State of MA even today.  The progressive approach of mandating facemasks by business and citizens was more restrictive than the state protocols and became a model for many other town and cities.  We worked directly with nursing homes, senior centers, and housing while targeting social determinants in lower income communities.
  • How did you target your program around the population most underserved in your community? 
    We identified early in the pandemic every senior center, mental health facility, and housing development and placed signs along every street and business to ensure our mask mandate was adhered to.  We also inspected every facility when possible and worked with them on contact tracing through GIS mapping, etc. 
• If your program directly addresses an existing public health problem other than COVID-19, what has been done in the past to address this problem before the pandemic?  We conducted a community health assessment to identify the vulnerable parts of our population and idfentified individuals with chronic diseases and in poverty. 
  • Why is the current practice better than what was previously done? This particular practice has never been completed in Brookline and required the entire agency to focus our efforts on contact tracing and prevention.  Our agency only has 20 staff people, but employed an additional 20 people to assist us with these efforts including using Department of Public Works, Econcomic Planning and Development, and Emergency Management along with MRC Volunteers.
  • OUTREACH
  • Beyond policies, the Department of Health invested significant resources in outreach and communication with community members. As mentioned above, Brookline was one of the first townships to begin contact tracing efforts. Further, on March 17th, an official COVID-19 Page 10 website was launched to keep residents informed on all the most recent data, publications and communications. Every week, the site was updated with “Need to Know Updates” and data reports for public viewing. Similarly, on March 18th, the COVID-19 Call Center became active, where residents could call with any questions, comments or concerns regarding any virusrelated topics. The call center was demobilized on June 19th after Brookline officials felt spread of the virus had sufficiently slowed. Finally, the Department of Health routinely organized broadcasts and Webex Town Halls to provide opportunities for the public to directly interact with officials and health experts. Examples of these meetings include the Advisory Council Public Health Virtual Town Hall on March 24th, the Youth Town Hall on April 29th and the Conversation about COVID-19 Webex on June 22nd. OTHER While our main approaches are outlined in the sections above, we took several other actions to effectively respond to the pandemic (found below). We firmly believe our timely and holistic approach was fundamental in successfully responding to this public health emergency. • Seniors-Only hours at the grocery stores were implemented to limit exposure among vulnerable populations. • Local elections were postponed to avoid gathering of large populations. Later, the election occurred as “No-Touch” with extra social distancing precautions. • Popular pedestrian streets were reconfigured to better accommodate social distancing. • Virtual mask-making events were conducted to encourage use of masks in a social way. Additionally, masks were freely distributed in highly-trafficked areas. • Brookline Police Social Workers held office hours for those in need of support or resources related to mental health. • The Department of Public Health partnered with FriendshipWorks to combat the detrimental impacts of social isolation on mental health, offering residents weekly check-ins through the “Friendly Caller Program.” • In the weeks following public protests, free pop-up testing sites were organized for any individuals who had participated or been in large gatherings. • Free and reduced pricing lunches were available to students in qualifying families on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays..
  • How is the current practice innovative?
    • Is it new to the field of public health? This novel approach was explained above
    • Is it a new use of an existing tool, practice, or resource? Explain. 
       
• How did this practice quickly and creatively adapt to the emergence of COVID-19 in your community?  
  • How were existing resources, such as staff, technology, and skills, innovatively used? Previously explained above
     
• What was the local context of COVID-19 in your community? What specific challenges related to COVID-19 created the most adversity in your community?  
  • How did this practice address or respond to these challenges?  
     
• Is the current practice evidence-based? If yes, provide references. Examples of evidence-based guidelines include the Guide to Community Preventive Services, MMWR Recommendations and Reports, National Guideline Clearinghouses, and the USPSTF Recommendations.

OUTREACH Beyond policies, the Department of Health invested significant resources in outreach and communication with community members. As mentioned above, Brookline was one of the first townships to begin contact tracing efforts. Further, on March 17th, an official COVID-19 Page 10 website was launched to keep residents informed on all the most recent data, publications and communications. Every week, the site was updated with “Need to Know Updates” and data reports for public viewing. Similarly, on March 18th, the COVID-19 Call Center became active, where residents could call with any questions, comments or concerns regarding any virusrelated topics. The call center was demobilized on June 19th after Brookline officials felt spread of the virus had sufficiently slowed. Finally, the Department of Health routinely organized broadcasts and Webex Town Halls to provide opportunities for the public to directly interact with officials and health experts. Examples of these meetings include the Advisory Council Public Health Virtual Town Hall on March 24th, the Youth Town Hall on April 29th and the Conversation about COVID-19 Webex on June 22nd. OTHER While our main approaches are outlined in the sections above, we took several other actions to effectively respond to the pandemic (found below). We firmly believe our timely and holistic approach was fundamental in successfully responding to this public health emergency. • Seniors-Only hours at the grocery stores were implemented to limit exposure among vulnerable populations. • Local elections were postponed to avoid gathering of large populations. Later, the election occurred as “No-Touch” with extra social distancing precautions. • Popular pedestrian streets were reconfigured to better accommodate social distancing. • Virtual mask-making events were conducted to encourage use of masks in a social way. Additionally, masks were freely distributed in highly-trafficked areas. • Brookline Police Social Workers held office hours for those in need of support or resources related to mental health. • The Department of Public Health partnered with FriendshipWorks to combat the detrimental impacts of social isolation on mental health, offering residents weekly check-ins through the “Friendly Caller Program.” • In the weeks following public protests, free pop-up testing sites were organized for any individuals who had participated or been in large gatherings. • Free and reduced pricing lunches were available to students in qualifying families on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

We conducted weekly meetings on Zoom with the Advisory Council on Public Health to alert the community of changes and to receive feed back from planning partners such as Mutual Aid of Brookline, Select Board, School Committee, Planning and Zoning Board, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works, Brookline Mental Health Agency, and citizens.

Brookline Community Foundation became an unexpected partner providing resources for families in need during unemployment and paying for housing subsidies. 

We used data from our community health needs assessement which was developed with Boston Children's Hospital, Brookline Community Foundation, and Northeastern University aloing with Emergency Management.  We also conducted a Climate Vulnerability Assessment prior to COVID19 which was feature in the New York Times which we used to identify vulnerable populations and ensure they had the necessary food and supplies in case of COVID19.

Here's the list of objectives to reduce the spread and lessons learned.

OBJECTIVE 1: Manage the Brookline COVID-19 response

·        COVID EOC meets Wednesdays @ 1100 as of June 10, 2020

·        COVID Task Force meets every other Monday @ 1500 as of August 10, 2020

OBJECTIVE 2: Maintain situational awareness for COVID Task Force and various planning/response partners

·        Virtual EOC M-F 0900-1700; situation reports generated on Mondays and Thursdays

·        Coordination with external partners including MEMA, COVID Command Center, Boston MIC, & MBHSR

OBJECTIVE 3: Provide public health and clinical guidance to internal and external partners

·        Environmental Health Team continues to monitor business reopening

·        Reopening Phase III, Step 1 began Monday July 6

OBJECTIVE 4: Create and disseminate public information to residents and media

·        www.BrooklineCOVID19.com provides information for residents and businesses

·        Phone & email for medical & non-medical public health questions managed by the Health Department

·        CodeRED (mass notification); first ‘all call’ message sent Aug 31; vendor monitored

OBJECTIVE 5: Conduct activities to minimize and stop any potential transmission of COVID-19 in Brookline

·        Continued discussions to plan fall influenzation in high risk populations

OBJECTIVE 8: Conduct activities to ensure workforce protection for town employees

·        Non-essential town offices have reopened to employees

·        Town offices remain closed to the public, except.

The practice adaped weekly to respnd to increase in cases and modified how we directed our resources.  We initilally notice through contact tracing in March that our largest spread was in essential business that remained open hence is why we passed a mask mandate for business first.  There was very limited exposure in Brookline to vulnerable population except nursing homes. Hence, we stopped new admissions to nursing homes and conducted inspections to ensure staff changed PPE and limited visits to only health care workers.  This reduce the number of deaths in the facilities in Brookline to a record low in the state.  The state usually manages nursing homes, but we noticed the state employs only 40 epi's for contact tracing for 351 muncipalities.  We decided to employ over 40 contact tracers along including every staff person to work directly with nursing homes and senior living facilites to reduce deaths.  We decided to develop a program to include a nurse, epi, and environmental specialist to conduct inspections in the future.  We also, passed a commissioners' order to ensure private schools followed the same protocols of 6 feet social distance and masks at all times. Our greatest lesson learned was to engage the community early in the process when developing policies and properly communcating this to them.  We also, hired a communcations team to send out weekly updates on policies to the community along with numerous community forums each week.  The implementation of the mask mandate along with contact tracing/inspections reduce the curve dramatically compared to other communities.