Biomaterial Database

Defining needs, defining systems: a critical analysis. 1993

A Dill

Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.

This article examines the model of need assessment commonly used in social service programs for older adults. Whereas this model defines need as an individual attribute, remediable through programmatic intervention, an alternative formulation suggests that organizational imperatives shape the definition of client need while obscuring their own role in the production of this information. A case study and historical analysis assess the roots of this process and its consequences for clients, staff, and aging programs.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010347	Patient Care Planning	Usually a written medical and nursing care program designed for a particular patient.	Nursing Care Plans,Goals of Care,Plans, Nursing Care,Care Goal,Care Goals,Care Plan, Nursing,Care Planning, Patient,Care Plans, Nursing,Nursing Care Plan,Plan, Nursing Care,Planning, Patient Care
D005260	Female		Females
D006291	Health Policy	Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.	Health Care Policies,Health Policies,Healthcare Policy,National Health Policy,Care Policies, Health,Health Care Policy,Health Policy, National,Healthcare Policies,National Health Policies,Policies, Health,Policies, Health Care,Policies, Healthcare,Policy, Health,Policy, Health Care,Policy, Healthcare
D006301	Health Services Needs and Demand	Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.	Health Services Needs,Needs,Needs and Demand, Health Services,Target Population,Health Services Need,Need, Health Services,Needs, Health Services,Population, Target,Populations, Target,Target Populations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly
D000369	Aged, 80 and over	Persons 80 years of age and older.	Oldest Old
D000375	Aging	The gradual irreversible changes in structure and function of an organism that occur as a result of the passage of time.	Senescence,Aging, Biological,Biological Aging
D012947	Social Work	The use of community resources, individual case work, or group work to promote the adaptive capacities of individuals in relation to their social and economic environments. It includes social service agencies.	Service, Social,Social Intervention,Social Service,Social Service Intervention,Social Work Intervention,Intervention, Social,Intervention, Social Service,Intervention, Social Work,Interventions, Social Work,Service Intervention, Social,Services, Social,Social Interventions,Social Service Interventions,Social Services,Social Work Interventions,Work Intervention, Social
D013597	Systems Analysis	The analysis of an activity, procedure, method, technique, or business to determine what must be accomplished and how the necessary operations may best be accomplished.	Agent-Based Modeling,Analysis, Systems,Complexity Analysis,System Dynamics Analysis,Systems Approach,Systems Medicine,Systems Oriented Approach,Systems Thinking,Agent Based Modeling,Agent-Based Modelings,Analyses, Complexity,Analyses, System Dynamics,Analyses, Systems,Analysis, Complexity,Analysis, System Dynamics,Approach, Systems,Approach, Systems Oriented,Approachs, Systems,Approachs, Systems Oriented,Complexity Analyses,Dynamics Analyses, System,Dynamics Analysis, System,Medicine, Systems,Medicines, Systems,Modeling, Agent-Based,Modelings, Agent-Based,System Dynamics Analyses,Systems Analyses,Systems Approachs,Systems Medicines,Systems Oriented Approachs,Systems Thinkings,Thinking, Systems,Thinkings, Systems