Health care needs assessment in prisons: a toolkit

Background Since 1999, prison health services and health authorities have been jointly responsible for assessing the health care needs of the prison population. To facilitate this process, the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of Birmingham developed a toolkit for carrying out a health care needs assessment of the prison population. Methods This paper describes the principles of the epidemiological approach to needs assessment and presents a stepped approach to carrying out a health care needs assessment in prisons. Some examples of the kind of health care needs to be found in prisons are presented. Results A systematic approach to the assessment of the health care needs of prisoners ensures that all the essential components of this important planning exercise are considered. The prison population is described, health problems are identified and quantified, and a review of current services is carried out. This allows the most effective solutions to addressing the health problems to be established. The process can be time consuming and is reliant on good data sources, but it does ensure that health problems and service elements are considered and addressed together rather than in a disjointed manner. Conclusion The stepped approach to epidemiological needs assessment allows health problems and current services to be identified. It also allows these to be matched to appropriate service requirements.