What is a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)?

The JSNA identifies ‘the big picture’ in terms of health and wellbeing needs and inequalities of a local population and informs future service planning, taking into account evidence of effectiveness.

The JSNA also assesses the health, wellbeing and social care needs of the local community. It is an ongoing process that involves identifying present and future needs of the local population across a number of priority areas including health, education and housing.

The JSNA:

• Looks at the health of the population, with a focus on behaviours which affect health such as smoking, diet and exercise
• Is concerned with wider social factors that have an impact on people’s health and wellbeing, such as housing, poverty and employment
• Provides a common view of health and care needs for the local community
• Identifies health inequalities
• Provides evidence of effectiveness for different health and care interventions
• Documents current service provision
• Identifies gaps in health and care services, documenting unmet needs

Who is it for?

• People who plan or buy local services (commissioners) Researchers who want to know more about Bexley and its residents.
• Partners who need to know about needs in the local area to help them bid for resources and/or plan for future service improvements/changes.
• Residents who may be interested in knowing more about the area in which they live

How have we developed the JSNA in Bexley?

A JSNA steering group with representation from the Council, Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the voluntary sector in Bexley oversees the development of the JSNA. The steering group have agreed the design and priority chapters for the JSNA. We recognise that the JSNA is a process as much as it is a product and that it is a piece of work that will evolve over time. Bexley’s JSNA is therefore designed to be phased, with chapters which will be prioritised each year and built on over time.

The first stage of developing the Bexley JSNA is the publication of the Core Data Set. This contains data and information about the people and places in Bexley (publication 23^rd April 2018).

The next stage of the JSNA will be publication of the following chapters. These chapters are those prioritised for 2018/19. They will be available by the end of September 2018:

• Healthy Weight
• Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Dementia
• Mental Ill Health
• Housing
• Crime
• Children and Young People
• Older People

2019/2020 will see the prioritisation and development of additional chapters to help build our portfolio of local knowledge, insight and data.