Developing a Community Paramedicine Needs Assessment Tool (CPNAT)

Developing a Community Paramedicine Needs Assessment Tool (CPNAT)

Tyne M. (Lunn) Markides

Introduction: Human health and social needs exist along a dynamic continuum. Recognizing that health status is inextricably impacted by social determinants of health,community paramedicine has both an opportunity and a responsibility to address social needs and improve health justice. In early 2023, Lunn et al led a scoping review that described the evolving ways community paramedicine models are addressing health and social needs within communities around the world. A key recommendation from the review was the need to meaningfully engage communities when developing programs to better understand, co-design and implement a model that addresses the specific needs of each community; however, there was a lack of evidence to guide this approach.

Objectives: Develop a comprehensive tool to aid in the co-design and development of community paramedicine programs by exploring

1. What are the elements that should be considered in a community health and social care needs assessment tool for community paramedicine program design and development in Canada?

2. What needs assessment tools are used in the development of community paramedicine programs in Canada, and what are the elements within them?

3. What needs assessment tools are used in the development of other health and social care programs and how can these be used to inform community paramedicine program design and delivery?

Methods: Developed through a multi-phase research project involving literature review, document analysis, and expert insights gained through qualitative in-person engagement. A document analysis method was used to identify and synthesize community health and social needs assessment tools and frameworks.

Results: Literature review and document analysis findings informed the initial draft of a Community Paramedicine Needs Assessment Tool (CPNAT) that the team revised and finalized following robust engagement with Community Paramedicine experts at the International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine (IRCP) convening in Quebec City in June 2024.

Conclusion: Development of a system-level CPNAT. Use of the CPNAT early in program co-design aims to enhance health equity by guiding community paramedicine programs to better align their services with the health and social care needs of communities.