It is essential for Health scientists and Health professionals to be aware of the population health issues, especially when they are expected to participate in the design of interventions, programs and policies or health services. The key step in the process of identifying and recording the health problems of a population is the realization that each population is not a homogeneous group, but consists of different groups with different characteristics and different health issues.
Public and community health needs assessment requires the consideration and quantification of many factors that will lead to certain conclusions for improving the population health and reducing health inequalities. Protecting and improving the population health is founded on collecting data on the social and health characteristics of the population in order to assess its needs and resources.
In this context, students will study in depth and be able to:
· understand the basic principles of needs assessment in public and community health
· comprehend the main methods of data collection, data analysis and evaluation, priority setting and goal setting for design, implementation and evaluation of effective public and community health interventions
· utilize current scientific literature to collect data for describing basic characteristics, monitor health status, and collect information on health determinants in the community
· understand the methods for developing a population profile to identify the strengths, limitations, needs and problems of a community
· make decisions, plan appropriate actions and allocate resources appropriately for prevention, health promotion and improvement of health services