joint strategic needs assessment foundation profile - JSNA

Interative Hull Atlas: www.hullpublichealth.org/Pages/hull_atlas.htm More information: www.jsnaonline.org and www.hullpublichealth.org
3.2.3 Health Needs Assessment
Wright et al (Wright, Williams et al. 1998) states: “Assessment of health needs is the
systematic method of identifying unmet health and healthcare needs of a population and
making changes to meet those unmet needs. It involves an epidemiological and
qualitative approach to determining priorities, which incorporates clinical and cost
effectiveness and patient‟s perspectives. This approach must balance clinical, ethical
and economic considerations of needs, that is, what should be done, what can be done
and what can be afforded.”
In addition, “Health needs assessment (HNA) should not just be a method of measuring
ill-health, as this assumes that something can be done to tackle it. Incorporating the
concept of a capacity to benefit introduces the importance of effectiveness of health
interventions and attempts to make explicit what benefits are being pursued.”
Therefore, Wright et al (Wright, Williams et al. 1998) states HNA gives the opportunity
for:
Describing the patterns of disease in the local population and the differences from
district, regional, or national disease patterns;
Learning more about the needs and priorities of their patients and the local
population;
Highlighting the areas of unmet need and providing a clear set of objectives to
work towards meeting these needs;
Deciding rationally how to use resources to improve the local population‟s health
in the most effective and efficient way;
Influencing policy, interagency collaboration, or research and development
priorities.
This report informs the first step for equity audits – describing the patterns of disease in
the local population.
3.2.4 Health Equity Audit
There are various definitions of equity and of health equity audits, but essentially a
health equity audit identifies how fairly services or other resources are distributed in
relation to health „need‟ of different groups and areas, and assesses the success of
programmes which aim to improve any inequity that is found.
The Government White Paper „Choosing Health‟ (Department of Health 2004) states
that tackling inequalities in health is a key priority and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are
required to undertake Health Equity Audits regularly to tackle inequalities for specific
diseases and medical conditions. The new Health White Paper (Department of Heath
2010) and the Public Health White Paper (Department of Health 2010) also highlight
reducing inequalities as a key priority.
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Foundation Profile – Hull Health Profile: Release 3. March 2011. 27