Cambridgeshire JSNA - Cambridgeshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)

A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is the means by which PCTs and local authorities describe the future health, care and wellbeing needs of the local populations and to identify the strategic direction of service delivery to meet those needs. 

The aim of a JSNA is to:

• Provide analyses of data to show the health and wellbeing status of local communities.
• Define where inequalities exist.
• Provide information on local community views and evidence of effectiveness of existing interventions which will help to shape future plans for services.
• Make specific recommendations based on the information and evidence collected. 

Why do we do JSNAs? 

There are many different factors which have an important influence on people’s health.  The factors which have been found to have the most significant influence are widely known as the determinants of health.  While health services make a contribution to health, most of the key determinants of health, for example, education, employment, housing, and environment, lie outside the direct influence of healthcare.

Who is involved in producing the JSNA? 

Although the legal duty to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment sits with the PCT and Local Authority, in Cambridgeshire we try to make sure that for each JSNA that we develop as many of the organisations providing services or advocacy are involved from the start in collecting information and formulating recommendations.  This means that each JSNA has a steering group of participants from a wide range of organisations and backgrounds.  Feedback indicates that the process of working together to gain a joint understanding of needs and priorities is as important as the document produced at the end of the process.  Collection of community views is another important aspect of JSNA work – to avoid ‘consultation fatigue’ this is usually conducted through collation of a range of existing consultation material. 

Page Last updated 03-02-2012