A scoping review of community health needs and assets assessment: concepts, rationale, tools and uses.

BACKGROUND: Community health needs and assets assessment is a means of identifying and describing community health needs and resources, serving as a mechanism to gain the necessary information to make informed choices about community health. The current review of the literature was performed in order to shed more light on concepts, rationale, tools and uses of community health needs and assets assessment. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of the literature published in English using PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, PDQ evidence, NIH database, Cochrane library, CDC library, Trip, and Global Health Library databases until March 2021. RESULTS: A total of 169 articles including both empirical papers and theoretical and conceptual work were ultimately retained for analysis. Relevant concepts were examined guided by a conceptual framework. The empirical papers were dominantly conducted in the  United States. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method approaches were used to collect data on community health needs and assets, with an increasing trend of using mixed-method approaches. Almost half of the included empirical studies used participatory approaches to incorporate community inputs into the process. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the need for having holistic approaches to assess community's health needs focusing on physical, mental and social wellbeing, along with considering the broader systems factors and structural challenges to individual and population health. Furthermore, the findings emphasize assessing community health assets as an integral component of the process, beginning foremost with community capabilities and knowledge. There has been a trend toward using mixed-methods approaches to conduct the assessment in recent years that led to the inclusion of the voices of all community members, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. A notable gap in the existing literature is the lack of long-term or longitudinal-assessment of the community health needs assessment impacts.

Impact of COVID-19 on mental health and quality of life: Is there any effect? A cross-sectional study of the MENA region.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major health crisis that has changed the life of millions globally. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the pandemic on mental health and quality of life among the general population in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A total of 6142 adults from eighteen countries within the MENA region completed an online questionnaire between May and June 2020. Psychological impact was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the social and family support impact was assessed with questions from the Perceived Support Scale (PSS). The IES-R mean score was 29.3 (SD = 14.8), corresponding to mild stressful impact with 30.9% reporting severe psychological impact. Most participants (45%-62%) felt horrified, apprehensive, or helpless due to COVID-19. Furthermore, over 40% reported increased stress from work and financial matters. Higher IES-R scores were found among females, participants aged 26-35 years, those with lower educational level, and participants residing in the North Africa region (p<0.005). About 42% reported receiving increased support from family members, 40.5% were paying more attention to their mental health, and over 40% reported spending more time resting since the pandemic started. The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with mild psychological impact while it also encouraged some positive impact on family support and mental health awareness among adults in the MENA region. Clinical interventions targeted towards vulnerable groups such as females and younger adults are needed.

Assessment of eating habits and lifestyle during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa region: a cross-sectional study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread globally, forcing countries to apply lockdowns and strict social distancing measures. The aim of this study was to assess eating habits and lifestyle behaviours among residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study among adult residents of the MENA region was conducted using an online questionnaire designed on Google Forms during April 2020. A total of 2970 participants from eighteen countries participated in the present study. During the pandemic, over 30 % reported weight gain, 6·2 % consumed five or more meals per d compared with 2·2 % before the pandemic (P < 0·001) and 48·8 % did not consume fruits on a daily basis. Moreover, 39·1 % did not engage in physical activity, and over 35 % spent more than 5 h/d on screens. A significant association between the frequency of training during the pandemic and the reported change in weight was found (P < 0·001). A significantly higher percentage of participants reported physical and emotional exhaustion, irritability and tension either all the time or a large part of the time during the pandemic (P < 0·001). Although a high percentage of participants reported sleeping more hours per night during the pandemic, 63 % had sleep disturbances. The study highlights that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a variety of lifestyle changes, physical inactivity and psychological problems among adults in the MENA region.

Healthy Cities Programme in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: concurrent progress and future prospects.

Urbanization has been rapidly increasing during the past two decades and it is estimated that by 2030, two thirds of the world's population would be living in urban areas, exposing the population to a large number of environmental, social, cultural, economic and behavioural factors that impact population health and wellbeing.In response to such challenges, the Healthy Cities concept was instigated in 1977 that, along with the Alma Ata Declaration and commitment of countries at the Thirtieth World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, would empower communities to lead socially and economically productive lives. A number of policy documents from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other bodies suggested introducing new approaches to managing cities and addressing health challenges, focusing more on health determinants and prevention than medical interventions.

WHO collaborating centres in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: an agenda for action and improvement (Editorial).

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the key United Nations specialized agency dedicated to promoting population health and health outcomes. In order for the Organization to achieve its strategic objectives, WHO designates selected institutions as collaborating centres to assit with carrying out WHO core activities. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) currently hosts 45 collaborating centres (as of December 2018), which is only 5% of the 832 WHO collaborating centres located worldwide, and yet EMR countries host about 10% of the global population. The reason for this discrepency could be a reflection of the limited public resources allocated to health research in the Region. However, it may also highlight the fact that resources and opportunities for establishing effective collaborating centres in the EMR still remain untapped.

Assessment of World Health Organization Collaborating Centres in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Following in-house training, there was a need for assessing perceived performance of World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centres in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, with special relevance to WHO's programme of work. Thus, a questionnaire was shared with responsible officers covering: selection process, frequency of communication, monitoring mechanisms, key delivered activities, and identified gaps during implementation. These included: tendency to implement regular activities, weak technical capacity and communication, and discrepancies between planned activities and actual implementation. Recommendations for centres included: establishing communication plan/modalities, selecting activities of global/regional nature, and mobilizing resources for work plan implementation. Recommendations for responsible officers included: carefully explaining updated WHO rules and regulations; ensuring that specific terms of reference are set as per WHO's global/regional mandates; setting up regular communication mechanisms; agreeing on regular monitoring and coordination modalities; and ensuring that redesignation planning takes place during the 4th year of prior designation period.

Prioritizing action on health inequities in cities: An evaluation of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART) in 15 cities from Asia and Africa.

Following the recommendations of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008), the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (HEART) to support local stakeholders in identifying and planning action on health inequities. The objective of this report is to analyze the experiences of cities in implementing Urban HEART in order to inform how the future development of the tool could support local stakeholders better in addressing health inequities. The study method is documentary analysis from independent evaluations and city implementation reports submitted to WHO. Independent evaluations were conducted in 2011-12 on Urban HEART piloting in 15 cities from seven countries in Asia and Africa: Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Local or national health departments led Urban HEART piloting in 12 of the 15 cities. Other stakeholders commonly engaged included the city council, budget and planning departments, education sector, urban planning department, and the Mayor's office. Ten of the 12 core indicators recommended in Urban HEART were collected by at least 10 of the 15 cities. Improving access to safe water and sanitation was a priority equity-oriented intervention in 12 of the 15 cities, while unemployment was addressed in seven cities. Cities who piloted Urban HEART displayed confidence in its potential by sustaining or scaling up its use within their countries. Engagement of a wider group of stakeholders was more likely to lead to actions for improving health equity. Indicators that were collected were more likely to be acted upon. Quality of data for neighbourhoods within cities was one of the major issues. As local governments and stakeholders around the world gain greater control of decisions regarding their health, Urban HEART could prove to be a valuable tool in helping them pursue the goal of health equity.