Elements and Performance Criteria

Health need is defined as:
State, conditions or factors in the community which, if absent, prevent people from achieving the optimum of physical, mental and social well-being

Types of need
Normative need (based on expert opinion)
Expressed need (based on inferences made from observation of use of health services)
Comparative need (derived from examining the services provided in a similar population)
Felt need (based on what members of the community say they need)

Health problem and group being targeted may be initially identified through one of the following ways:
Consultation with supervising Population Health professional
Position/job description
Policy documents/legislation detailing national, state or local health goals

Means of finding relevant literature may include:
Using the subject catalogue
Using abstracts or indexes (e.g. Index Medicus, Psychological Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, Social Sciences Citation Index, Current Contents, FAMILY, APAIS)
Computer searches

Critical appraisal of literature refers to:
Process of review that enables one to decide how useful pieces of research work are

Reliability of literature (particularly relating to interventions) refers to:
The logical soundness of method, results and conclusions drawn by authors

Applicability of literature (particularly relating to interventions) refers to:
The extent to which the finding could extend to, or be replicated, in other groups - particularly the group being targeted

Relevant sources of information include:
Hawe, Degeling and Hall, Evaluating Health Promotion, p. 17.
Books
Journals
Hospital records
Notification systems
Registers
Sentinel recording systems
Surveys
Annual public health reports
Existing epidemiological/socio-demographic data
National Population Health and Health Promotion agencies and organisations
General practitioners/primary care service
Local health authorities
Councils
Voluntary agencies
Relevant databases such as HEAPS
Publications of Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Experts in the field (practice and academia)
Target group representatives

Data may be:
Qualitative
Quantitative

Types of data required about the target group may include:
Demographic characteristics (e.g. age, sex, ethnic composition, residence, education level achieved)
Patterns of behaviour
Lifestyle

Ethical considerations that guide data collection and consultation processes may include:
Privacy and Confidentiality
Responsibility to help a community respond to needs they identify which might not necessarily coincide with stated priority health needs

Consultation may take the form of one of the following:
Interviews (personal, phone, formal or informal, etc.)
Nominal group process
Questionnaires
Delphi Method
Focus groups
Forums

The term "causal pathways" refers to:
Series of factors and events that seem to lead up to the problem

Causal pathways may include the following components:
Risk markers: identify the target group, outlines the characteristics associated with occurrence of problem but do not necessarily directly contribute to it)
Risk factors: directly account for why the problem is occurring
Contributing factors: contribute to or account for the risk factors and could be sorted out into predisposing factors, enabling factors and reinforcing factors

Stakeholders may include:
Representatives of relevant health agencies operating in the local community
Community advocates or change agents
Representatives/leaders of the target population
Population health professionals/Supervisors
Federal, State or local health service and population health planners
Federal, State or local health service providers
Other health and/or non-government organisations

Critical aspects of assessment:
Consistent satisfactory performance of all elements of this unit
This unit must be assessed in conjunction with:
HLTPOP503A - Plan a Population Health project
HLTPOP504A - Evaluate a Population Health project

Resource implications:
Access to:
A range of Government and non government policy documents and reports and statistics
Journals, books and external expertise
Documents and other materials (Charters, Declarations, Discussion Papers, etc.) from International Conferences on Population Health
A range of Government and non government policy documents and reports and statistics
Organisational policies and procedures

Method of assessment:
Observation of performance
Written tasks
Interviewing and questioning
Formal appraisal systems
Staff client feedback
Portfolio/CV
Supporting statement of supervisors
Evidence of relevant work experience/formal or informal learning
Case studies and scenarios as a basis for the discussion of issues in population health project planning
Project, exercise or investigation with relaxed time restraints requiring a significant part of the work to be carried out without close supervision and requiring the completion of a project report

Context of assessment:
This unit may be assessed in the workplace or in a simulated workplace under normal conditions
The unit may be assessed in the classroom and may contain a strong theoretical emphasis