Need: That without which life capacity is reduced. An objective requirement of continued organic existence and health. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Needs: The universal means or resources required to maintain life (satisfy life-interests) and realize life-value. The real life-requirements of living beings, defined by Prof John McMurtry as that without which their organic capacities are reduced. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World… Read More

Needs assessment: A systematic procedure for determining the nature and extent of health needs in a population, the causes and contributing factors to those needs and the human, organizational and community resources which are available to respond to these. Reference: Modified definition (Last, 2001; Wright, 2001) Needs assessment is an early step in planning a… Read More

Negation: The denial of a sentence. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Negative Dialectics: Adorno’s term for a relentlessly critical form of thought that refuses to accept any conceptual synthesis as adequate to the reality it conceives. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support… Read More

Network: A grouping of individuals, organizations and agencies organized on a nonhierarchical basis around common issues or concerns, which are pursued proactively and systematically, based on commitment and trust. Reference: new definition WHO actively initiates and maintains several health promotion networks around key settings and issues. These include, for example, the intersectoral healthy cities network,… Read More