As well as specific needs assessments developed for specialist subject areas/thematic area, such as the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment and Drugs and Alcohol, we are also developing ‘Place JSNAs’, focussed on our smaller localities – namely Place Plan Areas. There are 18 place plan areas in Shropshire, usually (not always) focused on a market town and its surrounding rural communities.   The place JSNAs help us to collectively understand the health and wellbeing needs of communities, understand the unique needs of people in a given location by working together to gain local knowledge and insight and take an asset-based approach that seeks to highlight the strengths, capacity and knowledge of all those involved.

The development of the place based JSNAs recognises that only 10% of our health and wellbeing is affected by healthcare and therefore takes into account a vast amount of health and wellbeing data, as well as other indicators regarding employment, education, and the wider determinants of health. To ensure the needs assessments reflect local priorities and what local people think, we gather the view of local residents and professional working within the JSNA areas by completion of online surveys, on ground face to face engagement and community meetings.