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Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Programme

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About the JSNA

JSNA stands for Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. It is an ongoing programme run by Public Health, which seeks to:

  1. Gather data based on a core set of health priorities

  2. Determine the health and wellbeing needs of the Isle of Man population

  3. Agree commissioning priorities that improve the health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities     

The JSNA:

  • looks at the ‘wider determinants of health’ that influence a population’s health and wellbeing, such as housing and working conditions

  • covers several years with agreed topics of focus each year rather than attempting to review all areas at once

  • encourages a ‘health in all policies’ approach across all departments so that improvements extend to all settings

  • is population focused and acknowledges the need for cross-government whole systems change

  • identifies and reduces inequalities

Who is involved

Public Health has a dedicated needs assessment team who are responsible for the delivery of the programme. They are managed by senior Public Health officials who ensure internal quality of the project and alignment to wider Public Health priorities.

The JSNA Strategy Board is made up of Chief Executive Officers and provides on-going oversight of the JSNA annual work programme throughout the year. With a Senior Responsible Officer appointed for each section of the programme, members provide peer support and ensure each other is held accountable for delivery. Public Health and the JSNA Strategy Board work together to ensure that a broad range of different organisations and communities are involved.

The JSNA encompasses input from the public, private and third sectors as well as seeking information and gathering data from the community and its residents. It truly is an all-Island approach.

Who's involved in the JSNA - as explained on the paragraphs above

How it works

A JSNA is the first step in a process which leads to the agreement of strategic objectives, the delivery of those objectives through an implementation plan and finally a mechanism for holding all partners to account for delivery. 

It is the single agreed picture of need and is essential for joint strategic planning based on the identification of the most important areas for action, all underpinned by core data sets and evidence based research.

It begins with Public Health and other Government departments as they identify topics for the annual JSNA programme. Once the topics are agreed, relevant third sector organisations will be consulted in order to contribute to the detailed work plan. The work plan is finalised and this is approved by the JSNA Strategy Board. Then, the programme begins, involving a series of surveys and data collection projects throughout the year in order to assess the needs of the population. This process is reviewed continually as well as at the end of each year to ensure that the original objectives are being met.

Step 1: Government Departments agree annual topics

Step 2: Third sector organisations are consulted

Step 3: JSNA Board approves final plan

Step 4: Programme beings

The purpose of JSNA

The desired outcomes of this Project are to deliver:

  • Improved understanding of need on the Isle of Man

  • Improved evidence-based service design

  • Whole system approach to designing services around place rather than through individual services

  • Greater proactivity in service delivery

  • The ability to ‘right size’ capacity in specific settings/for specific purposes (models of care)

  • An understanding of demand/need that is currently unmet

  • A clear view of demand that drives the transformation of services

How it can help you

If you are working in a government department, the JSNA will help your team to identify needs among your audience and you will have access to recommendations for your service delivery and policy implementation.

If you are a charity or non-profit organisation, the outcomes of the JSNA may help with your service delivery. You will also have input into the process so that topics important to you, can be included in the population assessment.

If you are a business or member of the public, the outcomes of the JSNA are likely to affect you, your employees or family members in some way. The main aim is to ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of the people in your community.

JSNA Programme 2022-2023

The first 2 years of the programme have been scoped by the JSNA Strategy Board with the following themes. Work has begun to incorporate these themes into the 2022-2023 data intelligence programme.

Starting Well/Developing Well

The main focus is on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), studying the impact on these children in their adulthood and how factors such as substance misuse and domestic abuse may contribute.

Topics also to be explored may include breastfeeding, childhood healthy weight, smoking in pregnancy, infant mortality and unintentional childhood injuries.

Ageing Well

We’ll be looking at long-term health factors such as life expectancy, physical health, mental health and an older people’s population projection. We’ll explore how well people maintain independence by studying older people’s housing, mobility, falls, and transport. We will also examine being part of a community including areas such as loneliness, social isolation, social connections and contributions to society.

Finally, we’ll look at people who face additional challenges or barriers to health and wellbeing such as carers, older people with learning disabilities, end of life, visual impairment, hearing loss and older LGBTQ+ people.

More about the JSNA Programme

To find out more about the JSNA Programme or to get involved, email publichealth@gov.im

To view previous Isle of Man Needs Assessments, visit the downloadable documents section of this page.


Reviewed: December 2022

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