Measurement of needs

Abstract

The assessments of needs for health care and needs for mental health care services have been relatively recently developed. As yet, the issue of how service users participate in defining need is largely unexplored territory. Just as formidable is the question �what are the consequences of conducting proper needs assessment? In assessing need, we are likely to confront previously inconspicuous layers of psychiatric morbidity and disability. This leads to two further questions: how shall we prioritise services, and is the pursuit of quality of life a reasonable proxy where staff are not able to provide a complete cure for mental disorders? Finally, it is sometimes helpful to step back from the detail of how to measure needs for healthcare and to ask why measure needs? Do needs reduce due to external factors, such as economic austerity leading to fewer available resources? In our view, an approach to health services that is fundamentally based upon need is in essence a moral choice. It is a view that attaches importance to the relief of suffering, whatever the circumstances of the person who is unwell, and which claims that a civilised society will offer services in proportion to the needs of those who may benefit from services. This sentiment has been more poetically expressed by Isabel Allende, when she wrote 'They also forced me to eat. They divided up the servings with the strictest sense of justice, each according to her need.' (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)