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Needs assessment needs assessment....
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1991
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EducationProgram EvaluationPrimary CarePublic HealthAssessmentHealth Services ResearchHealth PolicyNeeds AssessmentHealth InsuranceOutcomes ResearchNeed AnalysisPrimary Health CareHealthcare ValueHealth Care DeliveryHealth Information TechnologyNursingHealth EconomicsHealth Care NeedsUser NeedSpecial EducationHealth Care CostElectronic AssessmentEducational Assessment
Needs assessment is a high‑priority but conceptually muddled and technically difficult task, with diverse definitions of “need” across health‑care disciplines, and in the NHS context it is best defined as the ability to benefit from care, depending on morbidity and care effectiveness. The study aims to incrementally influence provider‑purchaser contracts to better meet health‑care needs despite assessment challenges. Analysis of the relationship between need, demand, and supply reveals limitations in current data sources and confirms that formal needs assessment will inevitably be a lengthy task.
Needs assessment is now a high priority, but it is conceptually muddled and technically difficult. In the past a variety of academic disciplines addressing different aspects of health care have produced a range of definitions on 'need' applicable to their own setting. In the context of the National Health Service Review, 'need' may best be defined as the ability to benefit from 'health care', which depends both on morbidity and on the effectiveness of care. An analysis of its relationship with 'demand', which is the health care that people ask for, and 'supply', which is provided, exposes the limitations of current information sources, and confirms that the formal assessment of needs will inevitably be a lengthy task. Despite these difficulties there is much that can and should be done incrementally to influence contracts between providers and purchasers towards meeting health care needs.