Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Conducting Community Needs Assessments: Planning for the growing older population Jan Mutchler, PhD, Caitlin Coyle, MS & Hayley Gravette, MSW University of Massachusetts Boston Department of Gerontology Massachusetts Council on Aging Conference 2012 October 3, 2012 Falmouth, MA

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Outline of today’s presentation: ▸What is a needs assessment? ▸How can a needs assessment be helpful to a Council on Aging? ▸Components of a needs assessment ▸Working with a research partner

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 What is a needs assessment? ▸“a systematic set of procedures undertaken for the purpose of setting priorities and making decisions about program or organizational improvement and allocation of resources” –Witkin and Altschuld, 1995 ▸Three basic components: ▸Pre-assessment ▸Assessment ▸Post-assessment ▸Keep the goal in mind ▸No absolutes

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 How can a needs assessment be helpful to a Council on Aging? ▸Provide backdrop for planning ▸Achieve internal goals ▸Achieve external goals

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Pre-assessment: planning ▸Understand WHY you are conducting a needs assessment ▸Broad and informative ▸Targeted to a specific goal ▸Develop a thorough roadmap and timeline for the process ▸Accept that this will change and be delayed ▸Identify areas of concern or potential barriers ▸Develop strategies about how to overcome them

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Promoting awareness ▸Create community buy-in before the assessment begins: ▸Propose plan to community leaders ▸News releases ▸Letter from public official (s) ▸Post-card mailing ▸Flyers ▸Local events

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Assessment: sources of data ▸Demographic data from existing sources ▸Census; American Community Survey ▸Focus groups ▸Conducting a sample survey ▸Key informant interviews ▸Each source of data has strengths, limitations, challenges

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Using demographic data ▸Opportunities and examples ▸Data from the decennial Census (latest was 2010) for every community: age, race, sex, household composition, owner occupied residence ▸Data from the American Community Survey (conducted annually). Available every year in one-year files (for the largest communities); in three year files (for medium-sized communities) and in five year files (for small communities)

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Plymouth Town: 2010 Census Living arrangements among people aged 65+ Owner occupancy for householders age 60+

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Age composition Age distribution of Smithville senior center participants Age distribution of “Smithville”

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Learning more about your residents’ needs Median household income in Worcester% disabled (age 65+)

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Conducting a survey ▸Question Construction ▸Length ▸Sampling ▸Online v. mail v. phone

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Focus groups ▸Planning & Recruitment ▸Facilitator’s role ▸Questions

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Key informant interviews ▸Selection of key informants ▸Structure of the interviews ▸Questions ▸“Do you think your department works well with the Council on Aging?” ▸This prompts the person to consider the idea that maybe they don’t work well with the COA. ▸“Tell me about your department’s relationship with the Council on Aging?” ▸This questions allows the person to tell you all of the information about the relationship with no implied bias

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Post-Assessment: analysis ▸Response rate ▸Analysis Basics ▸Qualitative ▸Quantitative ▸Triangulation

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Post-Assessment: dissemination ▸Dissemination of results: ▸Final report ▸News article ▸Fact sheet

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Research Partnerships: ▸Identify partners ▸How can they help? Things to keep in mind: ▸Confirm the research entity as a credible organization. ▸Determine how this research will support both your organization and the research institution’s missions. ▸Identify unique resources and agree upon which partners are responsible for providing which resources (e.g., financial, human capital, dissemination) ▸ Understand what is ethical and legal

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Helpful Hints: ▸Be clear about the PURPOSE of your assessment ▸Have a detailed timeline and roadmap of the process ▸Build in extra time ▸Create awareness in the community ▸Consider research partners ▸Determine appropriate sources of data ▸Stay realistic ▸NEED versus WANT

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Available Resources: ▸ Kreuger & Casey (2009). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research (4 th ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ▸ Witkin, B. R., & Altschuld, J. W., (1995). Planning and conducting needs assessments: A practical guide. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications

Conducting Needs Assessments | October 3, 2012 Thank you! Jan Mutchler: Caitlin Coyle Hayley Gravette,