0 Hcalt J, status probkm. s-di. :scribcu in tenns of incre. 1S<?d or decrca S(.,'O morbidity, mortnlity, fertility or reduced c. ipability for "·elln css: t,. Health resources Jlroblems-dc..'leribt'CI in tcm1s of lock of or nbse. nce of manp11wer. money. materials or institutions necessary to sol.-c health problems: c. Hcal!Jl-relnled pr Jblcms-dcscrih~-d in temls o( exi J;tcnce of i:. ocinl. economic. em;ranmcnt:il ;incl political fnctor!l thnt nr. grnvate t·he Ulness-inducing !lit1rntions in Lhc com11u111ity. a\)0,-e procel>S is much like the a.-. scss111cn L phnsc of the PRECEDE-PROCEED ~:iel of Green and Kr_eutcr ( 1999~ involving sndnl. cpi<le1111olo~ic~I. ~nvior?-1/ r, wironmcntal. cduc;:1t10nal/ecoloy. 1r:1l as:<es..<:mcnl ~mu nd1111111strnt1vc/pohcy ei ~cssmcnt s. Using rhis 1m1dcl c1mhll's not rml\ the nur. :c but nlso t J11 lornl y. ovcmmcn t. ass-J I · I d '. '<l l t· ' ' I the people nm ol 1cr sectors mw J v<: 111 co11111111n1ty ns..-;,:. s.,smcnt to I cnt y cr1hcn as where each contrihut~l to lltt· prnhlcm and poi111s when· they,·an net to rc.,;olvc :: problem. This will be d_isc,~sscd wit? more depth i11 the nc. ~ chapter on plnnning for communi ty health 1mrsmg tnlt!rvent mas. 11. Priority-setting After Lhe problems have been identified, the next task for Lite nurse nnd lhe commun ity is to prioritize which llca. llh r,rohlcms 1. 'llll he (lltcndtd lo <. 'Onsidcrin. g available resources, limitations and c.-onslr. :rints. In priority-setting. the nurse makes use of the following criteria: a. Nature of the condition/proble m presented-problems ~ire classified as health status. hcalt J1 resources or heullb-related problems: b.. Magnitude of the problem-rl;!fers to the severity o( the problem which cn n he measured in lerms oflhe proportion of the population affected by the problem; c. Modifiab ility of the problem-refers 10 the probability of reducing, controllin g or eradicating th c problem: d. Preventive potential-refers to t11e probability of conlr OUing or reducing the effects posed by the problem ; e. Social concern-refers to ilic perception of the population or the community as they are affected by the problem and tl1eir readiness lo act on the problem. Table 7. 2 shows the scoring system which the nurse can use lo prioritize health conditions/p roblems. Each problem will be: scored according to each criterion and divided by the highest possible score multiplied by the weight. Then the final score for each criterion will be added to give the total score for the problem. The problem with ilie highest total score is given high priority by the mtrsc. 175 