An empowerment approach to needs assessment in health visiting practice

This paper examines the usefulness of an integrated approach to needs assessment using an empowerment framework, within a health visitor/client interaction, in the home setting. It is intended to demonstrate the existence of a flexible approach to assessing need that is based on research about necessary processes for carrying out health visiting. The design of the tool described in this paper allows the use of professional judgement as well as fulfilling commissioning requirements to address health outcomes. Health promotion and empowerment are central to health visiting practice and should be reflected in the way needs are assessed. Many NHS trusts have introduced a system of targeting and prioritizing health visiting through a system of questioning to assess needs. This may reveal the work that health visitors do, but may also inhibit the open, listening approach required for client empowerment. Different methods of assessing need can be used that do not compromise the commissioning requirements, the health visitor's duty of care or professional accountability. The empowerment approach is key to the philosophy of health visiting. There are ways of approaching needs assessment that do not compromise the ethos of partnership-working in a health promoting way.