title: Assessing health service needs: tools for health planning.
abstract: As fiscal pressures mount, health-planning and decision-making at smaller geographics scales must be more effective. Involving local constituents in needs assessments, it is believed, would lead to better identification and serving of regional demands and needs for health services. This article examines needs assessment as a tool to determine a community's service needs and establish priorities for the creation of programs. Various approaches used in needs assessments are described, including survey methods, structured groups and geographic information systems.
authors.affiliation: Queen's Health Policy, Queen's University, Kingston.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brazil
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D006292:Health Priorities; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D007256:Information Systems; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014600:Utilization Review