This document brings together key insights from the latest Dorset Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), providing a clear and evidence-based picture of the health, wellbeing, and wider determinants affecting our communities. It highlights both Dorset’s strengths—such as higher-than-average life expectancy—and the significant and persistent inequalities that exist across place, population groups, and access to services.
Link to full document published by Dorset Council (March 2026) >> here
The data within this report is particularly valuable for VCSE organisations. It outlines critical trends including Dorset’s ageing population (with one in three residents projected to be over 65 by 2028), rising levels of long-term conditions, increasing economic inactivity linked to ill health, and the continued impact of deprivation and rurality on access to housing, transport, and services . It also highlights growing pressures around mental health, cost of living, unpaid carers, and health inequalities between communities.
For the VCSE sector, understanding and using population health data like this is essential. It enables organisations to:
- Clearly evidence local need
- Target services where they will have the greatest impact
- Strengthen strategic alignment with NHS, Local Authority, and ICS priorities
- Develop robust business cases and funding applications
- Demonstrate outcomes and value in a system increasingly focused on prevention and reducing inequalities
This is not just a data resource—it is a strategic tool. VCSE organisations are uniquely placed to respond to many of the challenges identified, particularly those linked to prevention, early intervention, community connection, and addressing the wider determinants of health.
We encourage all organisations to engage with this data, reflect on what it means for their communities, and use it to inform planning, partnerships, and future development.