Spatial Planning for Health Guide

Download Spatial Planning for Health: A guide to embedding the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment in spatial planning

Download background papers:

• Paper 1 - Case studies
• Paper 2 - 1st stakeholder roundtable note
• Paper 3 - 2nd stakeholder roundtable note
• Paper 4 - SWOT analysis of public policy reforms

Spatial Planning for Health: A guide to embedding the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment in spatial planning has been developed during a transformational period of structural reform for both the public health and town and country planning sectors. The fundamental relationship between planning and public health and the need for an evidence base to back up decisions will continue to exist regardless of new policy landscapes. In fact the task facing public health and planning practitioners and policy-makers is not necessarily looking at new ways of doing things but learning from how existing processes and arrangements can be improved to deliver shared health and well-being priorities for local communities. The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) of local health and well-being is a joint statutory process between the local authority and primary care trust. It provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen the process of spatial planning in helping to deliver sustainable development objectives. 

Commissioned by the Hyde Group and developed by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), the purpose of this guide is to:

• promote the contribution of well-planned developments in achieving long term health and well-being outcomes;
• promote the positive application of the JSNA in the planning process so that the JSNA as a method of engagement and an evidence-based tool can be fully understood and appreciated by planners and policy-makers;
• highlight the impacts and opportunities of the ‘localism' agenda for both spatial planning and public health;
• promote embedding the JSNA in a supportive planning framework for delivering key health and well-being outcomes;
• make recommendations to inform improvements to the alignment of planning and health processes; and
• where possible, make use of, rather than duplicate, published guidance and advice from respected organisations.

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