1. The New NHS -- Opportunities and Challenges -- 2. What Is Health Needs Assessment? -- 3. An Introduction to Essential Demographic and Epidemiological Concepts -- 4. Sociological Approaches to Collecting Information on Health Needs -- 5. The Life Cycle Framework -- Its Rationale, Structure and Use -- 6. Life Stage: From Late Pregnancy to One Week After Birth -- 7. Life Stage: From One Week to One Year -- 8. Life Stage: From One to Four Years -- 9. Life Stage: From Five to 14 Years -- 10. Life Stage: From 15 to 24 Years -- 11. Life Stage: From 25 to 44 Years -- 12. Life Stage: From 45 to 64 Years -- 13. Life Stage: From 65 to 74 Years -- 14. Life Stage: 75 Years and Over -- 15. The Challenge of Purchasing for Health Gain -- Appendix 1. Issues to consider when selecting potential areas of need for more detailed scrutiny -- Appendix 2. Identifying existing services worthy of challenge with respect to their existence or manner of provision -- Appendix 3. Some routine sources of data -- Appendix 4. Obtaining data
