Our Approach to the JSNA

What is the JSNA?

A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) looks at the current and future health and care needs of local populations to inform and guide the planning and buying of health, wellbeing and social care services within an area and is a responsibility of Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing Board (H&WBB). There are no set templates or datasets for creating a local JSNA and it is best thought of as a suite of products and insight, rather than a single report.

Our local approach

Gloucestershire ‘INFORM’ has hosted our JSNA since 2012 with a wealth of information on our population demographics and assets, our economy, environment, the health and wellbeing of Gloucestershire residents and service users, in addition to information on health and social care service use and needs.

Our local approach is to ensure that data and insight is available to those planning and commissioning services, but also that best evidence and practice is highlighted to help improve population health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities in access to services and in health and wellbeing outcomes. We aim to give visibility to the many strengths and assets within our communities.

In addition to core data and insights on our population we have a collection of themed folders with infographic summaries of key data, evidence and local assets, alongside links to key reports and deeper dive analysis. We aim to develop this content to increasingly use more data visualisation tools that enable user to interrogate data in a way that makes it most meaningful.

The word cloud illustrates some of the topics explored by the JSNA

What is the intended audience?

Although the primary aim of the JSNA is to inform and guide the planning and commissioning of health, wellbeing and social care services, the range of information held within INFORM can help local community groups, Voluntary and Community Sector organisations (and organisations external to Gloucestershire) understanding our population.