Community Health Needs Assessment - euro.who.int

1 EUR/01/5019306 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH EDITED E74394 Governments across the European Region are faced with rising demands for Health care, limited resources and increasing inequalities in Health . Community Health Needs Assessment has a central part to play, enabling practitioners, managers and policy-makers to identify those in greatest need and to ensure that Health care resources are used to maximize Health improvement. It is a vital Health care planning tool to be used at the level of families, communities and populations. This document describes the ways in which Health Needs Assessment can identify priority Health Needs , target resources to address inequalities and involve local people.

2 The process of undertaking Health Needs Assessment is described and the important contribution of nurses explored. The document also includes a pack for training the trainers in the use of the Assessment tool. ISBN 92 890 1194 7 Nursing and Midwifery Programme Telephone: +45 39 17 13 55 World Health OrganizationTelefax: +45 39 17 18 65 Regional Office for EuropeScherfigsvej 8 Electronic mail: Copenhagen World Wide Web address: Health Needs Assessment An introductory guide for the family Health nurse in EuropePart 1: A pack for practitioners Part 2: A pack for trainers EUR/01/5019306 ABSTRACT Governments across the European Region are faced with rising demands for Health care, limited resources and increasing inequalities in Health .

3 Community Health Needs Assessment has a central part to play, enabling practitioners, managers and policy-makers to identify those in greatest need and to ensure that Health care resources are used to maximize Health improvement. It is a vital Health care planning tool to be used at the level of families, communities and populations. This document describes the ways in which Health Needs Assessment can identify priority Health Needs , target resources to address inequalities and involve local people. The process of undertaking Health Needs Assessment is described and the important contribution of nurses explored.

4 The document also includes a pack for training the trainers in the use of the Assessment tool. Keywords ISBN 92 890 1194 7 FAMILY NURSING Community Health SERVICES Needs Assessment GUIDELINES TEACHER TRAINING TEACHING MATERIALS EUROPE World Health Organization 2001 All rights in this document are reserved by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The document may nevertheless be freely reviewed,abstracted, reproduced or translated into any other language (but not for sale or for use in conjunction with commercial purposes) provided that full acknowledgement is given to the source.

5 For the use of the WHO emblem, permission must be sought from the WHOR egional Office. Any translation should include the words: The translator of this document is responsible for the accuracy of thetranslation. The Regional Office would appreciate receiving three copies of any translation. Any views expressed by named authors aresolely the responsibility of those authors. This document was text processed in Health Documentation Services WHO Regional Office for Europe, CopenhagenCONTENTS PagePart I: A pack for practitioners Introduction ..1 Purpose of the pack ..1 What is a Community Health Needs Assessment ?

6 1 Why do it?..1 Concepts and principles of Health Needs Assessment ..2 Format of the pack ..3 Before Section One: Profiling the population ..4 Characteristics of the The Health status of the population ..6 Local factors affecting Current nursing work ..10 Local people s views of their Health Needs and Health Local and national priorities ..11 Section Two: How do you find out? ..12 Describing the Community ..12 Local views ..12 Measures of Health and of Health inequalities ..13 Nursing Section Three: What to do with the information ..17 What is the information telling you?..17 Deciding on priorities.

7 17 Planning what to do ..19 Taking action ..21 Appendix 1: Community development ..22 Appendix 2: Health measures ..23 Appendix 3: Example of an interview schedule when asking people their views of local Health Appendix 4: Example of a family Health Assessment tool developed by Health visitors in Rotherham Priority Health Trust, United References ..30 Further sources of information on Health Needs Assessment ..30 Part II: A pack for trainers Introduction ..35 Teaching Health Needs Assessment ..35 The structure of the Expectations of the trainer ..37 Recommended teaching resources ..37 Outline of the programme.

8 38 Session One: Introduction to Health Needs Assessment ..40 Group introductions ..40 Setting the ground rules for the group ..42 Defining Health Needs Why do a Community Health Needs Assessment ?..45 Session Two: Principles and concepts of Health Needs Session aim ..49 Summary of the content ..49 What is Health ?..49 What is Health need ?..53 Factors that influence Health ..54 What do we mean by equity in Health ? ..56 Ethical issues and Health Needs Assessment ..58 Session Three: How to do it ..60 Session Summary of the content ..60 How to do a Community Health Needs Assessment ..60 Exploring different types of Health information.

9 62 Sources of Involving local Planning our own Health Needs Session Four: Using the Health Needs Assessment ..70 Presentation of the Community or population profile ..70 Prioritizing Health issues ..71 Action Evaluation ..75 Further sources of information on Health Needs Assessment ..77 ForewordHEALTH21, the Health policy framework for the European Region of WHO, introduces a new type of nurse the family Health nurse who will have a key role in addressing the Needs of the family within the context of the Community . Family Health nurses will play a role throughout the life course and along the entire Health illness continuum, with particular reference to the Needs of the most vulnerable groups in society.

10 They will have in-depth knowledge of the determinants of Health , and will base their practice on primary Health care and public Health principles. To enable them to carry out this role effectively and to plan their work accordingly, they will need to have a thorough understanding of the Community and its Needs . They will also require the necessary competencies to assess families and individuals with their Health and related Needs , so that their care can be jointly planned. To this end, they will need to be competent to undertake Community , individual and family Needs Assessment .