HEALTH OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES: DIAGNOSING, IDENTIFYING GAPS AND NEEDS

Abstract

Purpose: to identify features of diagnosing the health of local communities, to examine the current state and changes in the approaches to identifying gaps and needs for action planning.

Materials and Methods. The study makes use of the current data on approaches to identifying gaps and needs health diagnostics of local communities in Ukraine and the world.

Results. There are five types of models for health diagnosis and needs assessment: epidemiological diagnosis, public health diagnosis, social diagnosis, asset diagnosis, and rapid diagnosis. Each model has its own vision, as well as advantages and disadvantages. In practice, the selected model can be supplemented with elements of other models in accordance with the resources and purpose of the assessment. Determining the population to be assessed is an important early stage in assessing community health. It can be determined geographically, by a specific area, place of work, residence, or study. The state health department can target the entire population, while a small local non-profit agency is likely to focus only on potential customers. The use of very specific parameters to determine the population makes the assessment more focused and detailed, allows very specific adaptation of health measures.

Conclusions. When assessing community health, the boundaries of the target audience may change during data collection and analysis. Analysis and interpretation of epidemiological data may reveal that only working mothers are at high risk for health problems that the organization can address. This refinement of the target audience can occur because of a community health assessment.