Redesigning Joint Strategic Needs Assessment: an assets based approach

As part of the recent NHS reforms, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 places the duty to prepare assessments of health and social care needs (JSNA) in local areas on Health and Wellbeing Boards, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Local Authorities. Traditionally these assessments have been developed from a deficit perspective, focusing on problems, needs and deficiencies in communities such as deprivation and illness. Under this approach, the tendency was to commission services primarily to fill gaps and fix problems. This has led to individuals and communities feeling disempowered and dependent, becoming passive recipients of services rather than active agents in their own and their families’ lives.

Government efforts to embed a culture of engagement and empowerment have in recent times generated an interest in working in different ways; emphasising individual and community assets rather than needs, and using these to inform commissioning and service delivery. However, while the concept of assets based working is easily grasped, service commissioners have been challenged with how to make it work in practice.

This study reports findings from research commissioned by the London Borough of Greenwich to support its transition to an asset based JSNA. The work included: Developing a conceptual framework for undertaking an asset based JSNA building on earlier work including findings from pilots funded by the Department of Health Qualitative research engaging a range of statutory and third sector stakeholders.

Scoping and assessing local assets that could be built on and scaled up Identifying unused and underused assets A set of case studies examining instances of assets based working within the Borough.

Our study describes the experience of using the framework to support transition to asset based JSNA at local authority level and provides a practical illustration of how the process can be operationalised. The framework and approach have potential for application in other public health contexts.