Health needs assessment

Question 1

What is the planning cycle in needs assessment and planning?

Answer 1

Needs assessment -> planning -> implementation -> evaluation -> needs assessment

Question 2

How is the planning cycle relevant to junior doctors?

Answer 2

As qualified doctors in the modern NHS, you will improve the health of patients in two main ways: [1] treating individual patients [2] influencing the services available to patients

Question 3

What is the NICE definition of ‘need’ ?

Answer 3

The ability to benefit from an intervention

Question 4

What is the definition of demand?

Answer 4

What people ask for

Question 5

What is the definition of supply?

Answer 5

What is provided

Question 6

What is the definition of a health needs assessment?

Answer 6

A systemic method for reviewing the health issues facing the population, leading to agreed priorities and resource allocation that will improve health and reduce inequalities

Question 7

What is health need vs health care need?

Answer 7

Health need - need for health, concerns need in more general terms.
Healthy care need - need for health care, much more specific, ability to benefit from health care

Question 8

How is health need measured?

Answer 8

Using mortality, morbidity, socio-demographic measures

Question 9

How is health care need measured?

Answer 9

Depends on the potential of prevention, treatment and care services to remedy health problems

Question 10

Who/what would a health needs assessment be carried out for?

Answer 10

A population or sub-group, a condition or an intervention

Question 11

What is felt need?

Answer 11

Individual perceptions of variation from normal health

Question 12

What is expressed need?

Answer 12

Individual seeks help to overcome variation in normal health (demand)

Question 13

What is normative need?

Answer 13

Professional defines intervention appropriate for the expressed need

Question 14

What is comparative need?

Answer 14

Comparison between severity, range of interventions and cost

Question 15

What are the public health approaches to health needs assessment?

Answer 15

Epidemiological; comparative; corporate

Question 16

What are the steps of the epidemiological approach to a health needs assessment?

Answer 16

Define problems; size of problems; services available; evidence base; models of care; existing services; recomendations

Question 17

What would you look at when assessing the size of problems in the epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 17

Incidence and prevalence

Question 18

What would you look at when assessing the services available in the epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 18

Prevention, treatment and care

Question 19

What would you look at when assessing the evidence base in the epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 19

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness

Question 20

What would you look at when assessing the models of care in the epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 20

Quality and outcomes measures?

Question 21

What would you look at when assessing the existing services in the epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 21

Unmet needs and services not needed

Question 22

What are the problems with an epidemiological health needs assessment?

Answer 22

Required data may not be available; variable data quality; evidence base may be inadequate; does not consider felt needs of people affected

Question 23

What does a comparative health needs assessment look at?

Answer 23

Compares the services received by a population with another; can be either spatial or social

Question 24

What would a comparative health needs assessment examine?

Answer 24

Health status, service provision, service utilisation, health outcomes

Question 25

What are health care outcomes?

Answer 25

Mortality, morbidity, quality of life, patient satisfaction

Question 26

What are the problems with a comparative health needs assessment?

Answer 26

May not yield what the most appropriate level of provision or utilisation should be; data may not be available; data may be of variable quality; may be difficult to find a comparable population

Question 27

What does a corporate heath needs assessment take into consideration?

Answer 27

Providers, professionals, patients, press, politicians, opinion leaders, commissioners

Question 28

What are the problems with a corporate health needs assessment?

Answer 28

May be difficult to distinguish between need and demand; groups may have a vested interest; may be influenced by political agendas; dominant personalities may have undue influence