Communiyty Health Needs Assessment Of Aljouf Region

Abstract

The Population Health Management (PHM) team of the Aljouf Health Cluster conducted its inaugural community health needs assessment (CHNA). The primary goal of this assessment was to evaluate the health needs of the community by employing community engagement strategies and utilizing available data to inform stakeholders about the region's health priorities. The Aljouf Region is comprised of four zones: Skaka (Zone 1), Alqurayyat (Zone 2), Tabarjal (Zone 3), and Domat Aljondal (Zone 4) Swir (Zone 5), all of which were included in this assessment. The PHM team utilized a mixed-methods approach, incorporating a review of secondary data, a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that the Aljouf Health Cluster serves a population of approximately 600,000, with 58% males and 42% females. The healthcare infrastructure includes 63 government Primary Health Care (PHC) centers and 14 hospitals. A higher utilization of healthcare services was observed among females (56%) compared to males (44%), with only 7% of PHC users being non-Saudi nationals. The most prevalent health problems identified were challenges in accessing healthcare and specialized services, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking, mental health issues, and upper respiratory tract infections. Furthermore, the assessment indicated an underutilization of preventive services and routine check-ups within the community. Based on these findings, the team prioritized access to healthcare, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and smoking as the key health needs. The recommended interventions to address these priorities primarily focus on improving access to specialized clinics, emergency care, and strengthening community awareness. Key limitations included challenges with the availability and quality of secondary data. Future recommendations emphasize the integration of a minimum data set into the cluster's Health Information System (HIS) to ensure seamless data access and compilation.