Implications for future use
The goals of the Northwest Arkansas Four-County Community Health Needs Assessment were to conduct a comprehensive health needs assessment of the residents of Northwest Arkansas, identifying health care trends and gaps/inadequacies within the current health care delivery system, obtain additional information about underserved populations of interest, and to report the findings of this assessment in the form of a community report.
A comprehensive health needs assessment for Benton , Carroll, Madison and Washington Counties has been completed. The establishment of baseline health needs information for the four-county region in Northwest Arkansas was a major goal of this project. Survey respondents were able to identify gaps and inadequacies within Northwest Arkansas ' health care delivery system and this health assessment perceptions were corroborated with current health information and trends gathered independently of the survey. This information can be used by health care providers to develop health care policy, facilitate educational and outreach efforts, and develop health care intervention and services consistent with the needs identified by the survey respondents.
An additional goal of the Four-County Community Health Needs Assessment was to obtain additional information about underserved populations. Results from the survey and the focus groups have provided greater insight about the health care concerns of Marshall Islanders, Hispanic communities and the elderly in Northwest Arkansas. This information can be utilized by health care providers, health care policy members, and members of these underserved communities in order to improve the quality of health care services.
The health needs assessment will need to be periodically updated in order to assess the changing health care needs in Northwest Arkansas. Future efforts will also provide an opportunity to remedy some of the methodological limitations in this current study, which will provide a means by which a regional health needs assessment can be conducted, and for supplementing the four county baseline health data. For example, including an instrument like the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), may be a good model to use in the future to coincide with the Four-County Community Health Needs Assessment. Health status data must be collected along with health needs assessment information in order to develop a comprehensive overview of health needs within Northwest Arkansas.
There is no issue more critical to the success of a community than the quality and accessibility of health care services. It is hoped that this report informs the community about the perceptions of the health needs of the residents of Northwest Arkansas.