Assessing Health Need Using The Life Cycle Framework - Softcover

"...a clear and widely accessible book." -Sociology of Health and Illness "...useful as a reference...could certainly be used as a checklist or starting point when trying to determine the health needs of communities...useful in providing insight into how NHS managers make planning decisions." -Community Development Journal "...fills an important gap...I would recommend this book to people involved in needs assessment." - Epidemiology and Community Health "Thepurchasing of health care is well served by this text. The authors take the potentially difficult and nebulous topic of healthneeds assessment and, by a combination of lively style and sound common sense, render it accessible and interesting for the reader." - Nursing Times "...a useful introduction." - MedicalSociology News

Assessing the needs of populations is a prerequisite for the planning and delivery of effective health services. This text presents the Life Cycle Framework as a means of organizing thought about this task from health district down to neighbourhood levels. The framework brings together in a coherent manner the diverse influences (e.g. biological, social, ethnic, environmental and geographical) on people's propensity for good health and their ability to avail themselves of services. It also identifies routinely available sources of information. The book is self-contained in that no prior knowledge of epidemiology is demanded of the reader. The intended readership includes a wide range of health professionals, managers and policy makers and those in other public sectors (e.g. local government) whose actions influence health. The Life Cycle Framework can also be used to assist in teaching social medicine to medical and nursing undergraduates and will be a valuable aid to trainees in public health medicine.