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Summary
This article discusses community profiling and how it can be used to assess health priorities. The concept and different definitions of health are explored. There is a discussion of inequalities and how they affect a person's health. Different types of need are identified and the benefit of involving the community in the decision-making process is explained.
Keywords
Community profiling; Health inequalities; Health needs assessment; Public health
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Aims and intended learning outcomes
The aim of this article is to increase the reader's knowledge and understanding of community profiling in health needs assessment, and its importance in contemporary nursing practice. After reading this article you should be able to:
* Discuss health as a concept.
* Describe factors that affect health inequalities.
* Discuss health needs assessment and its function in nursing practice.
* Outline the methods used to assist with community profiling.
* Apply the knowledge gained from this article to assess health priorities in your practice community.
Introduction
The white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (DepartmentofHealth(DH)1999) underlined the need to tackle health inequalities and promote good health. The document set out targets to reduce morbidity and mortality, with a focus on coronary heart disease (CHD), cancer, accidents and mental illness (DH 1999). The white paper Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier (DH 2004a) also focused on the reduction of inequalities and the part that communities play in health improvements. Profiling as a way of identifying the community, its characteristics and needs forms an integral part of health assessment and is essential to reduce health inequalities. This article outlines the process of community profiling and considers the concepts of health, the community and need.
Defining health
Health means different things to different people and is a constantly evolving concept (Naidoo and Wills 2000). For some, health is defined as the absence of disease (Naidoo and Wills 2000), while for others it is 'a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence...