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Why is this topic important?

All health topics have importance to someone, somewhere, at some time. However, not all topics of relevance to individuals will be considered to have population health importance. The needs of the one (or the few) differ from the needs of the many. The planning of good care for individuals is made easier by reference to a standard—so what standard could we apply to determine relevance to planning the care of populations? The following four-point “screen” can help judge whether a given topic has population health importance:

  • Is it a common (high prevalence) problem?
  • Does it have significant consequences? These may be measured by morbidity or mortality—or a combination of both via disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and may be experienced by the individual, their family, the local community, the health and social care sector, or by wider society.
  • Does it have significant costs? These are measured in financial terms and similarly may be experienced by the individual, their family, the local community, the health and social care sector, or by wider society.
  • Are there opportunities for prevention or early intervention? This may be especially so if there are opportunities for clusters to co-produce interventions with the communities they serve.

Communicating the strategic/ public health context by reflecting on and answering these questions can help ensure cluster needs assessment has added clarity around the rational for planning health improvement actions for topics that are likely to have population-level impacts.