Community Analyses or Needs Assessment HS 638: Lusine Nahapetyan

Objectives Recap Planning Models –Generalized Planning Model –PROCED-PRECEED Needs Assessment –Define needs and needs assessment –Define capacity, community capacity, capacity building –Purposes of needs assessment –Explain what should be expected from needs assessment –Differentiate between primary an secondary data sources –Conduct a needs assessment within a given population –Acquiring Needs Assessment Data

Generalized Planning Model Assessing Needs Setting Goals & Objectives Developing Interventions Implementing Interventions Evaluating Results

Needs Assessment “The process of identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing the needs of a priority population” Other terms used to describe needs assessment: Community Analyses Community Diagnosis Community Assessment

COMMUNITY ANALYSIS OR NEEDS ASSESSMENT Determine the Community in which to conduct the Needs Assessment

How to Define Community (Boundaries) History of the Parish Geographic Identifiers –Climate – Surface features Business and Commerce –Economy--Industry--Transportation Demographics –Total population--Community and School. Racial and ethnic groups in the community and school. Social, Religious, and Political System

Needs Assessment The purpose is to addresses three vital questions: 1.What are the actual (true need) and perceived (reported need) health needs and practices of the group? 2.What topics and activities are the clients interested? 3.What is the level of readiness or interest?

Purposes of a Needs Assessment Logical place to start: before a need can be met, it first must be indentified and measured Can help insure appropriate use of planning resources –Remember, resources are always limited and it is important to decide what is the most pressing need that needs to be addressed first

Purposes of a Needs Assessment Failure to do needs assessment may lead to program focus that prevents or delays the adequate attention directed to a more important health problem Determine the capacity of a community to address specific needs

Community Capacity Capacity refers to individual, organizational, and community resources that can enable a community to take action: Policy Relationships Operations Structures Infrastructure Politics Systems

To Summarize Needs assessment should answer the following questions: 1.Who is the priority population? 2.What are the needs of the priority population? 3.Which subgroups within the priority population have the greatest need? 4.What is currently being done to resolve identified needs? 5.How well have the identified needs been addressed in the past?

Acquiring Needs Assessment Data Primary Data – Data that you collect yourself Secondary Data Data already collected by somebody else and available for your use

Sources of Secondary Data Center for Disease Control and Prevention –National Center for Health Statistics –Workplace health Promotion x.html –Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System –

Sources of Secondary Data HP US Preventative Services Task Force National Cancer Institute US Census Bureau Food & Drug Administration World Health Organization

Sources of Secondary Data American Heart Association County Health Rankings Kaiser Family Foundation Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Sources of Primary Data Surveys (written questionnaires (online, in-person or telephone interviews) Face-to-face interviews Key Informant Interviews Focus Groups Observation

Conducting Needs Assessment: Steps 1.Determining the Purpose and Scope of the Needs Assessment 2.Gathering Data (Secondary and Primary) 3.Analyzing Data 4.Identifying Risk Factors liked to the health problem 5.Identifying program focus 6.Validating the need before continuing on with planning process

In-Class Activity Go to BRFSS, choose 3 health problems, get data on national, state and local level related to that problem Register in Survey Monkey and Google Forms Create a questionnaire