Identifying needs and community resources in arthritis care

A project was undertaken to determine the need for community services of persons with arthritis. It was first necessary to ascertain patients' viewpoints about what is most needed. A structured interview was developed and submitted to 189 primarily urban patients. Five sources were drawn upon to determine items for the interview: (1) selected arthritis literature; (2) patient interviews; (3) health professionals' viewpoints; (4) functional assessments; and (5) inquiries made to Arthritis Foundation staff. Sixty-six questions based on 25 content areas were then developed. Functional states and demographic and medical information were also solicited. A factor analysis indicated three groups of needs: (1) general information; (2) personal care and medical services; and (3) assistive devices and equipment. Needs were matched with a comprehensive list of countywide resources derived from a computer data bank; a service directory was prepared and printed based on the compatibility between needs and community resources, and distributed to health and social service professionals, selected patients, and community leaders. The process used to select items for the interview was time consuming, but added face validity to the content areas selected. The outcome was vital to determining community resources capable of responding to need for service.