1. Assessing Community Resources
Chapter 2
Assessing Community Resources
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2. Learning Objectives
Describe seven steps in conducting a community needs assessment.
Develop a statement that defines the nutritional problem within the community.
Discuss the contribution of the target population to community needs assessment planning and priority setting.
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3. Learning Objectives
Define the terms incidence and prevalence, and explain how these concepts describe a population’s and the community’s health.
Describe three types of data about the community that can be collected, and indicate where these data are found.
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4. Introduction
The process of community nutrition assessment is much like the challenge of producing the “best” photograph of your city.
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5. Community Needs Assessment
Community needs assessment is the process of:
Evaluating the health and nutritional status of the community.
Determining what the community’s health and nutritional needs are.
Identifying places where those needs are not being met.
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6. Community Needs Assessment
It involves systematically collecting, analyzing, and making available information about the health and nutritional status of the community.
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7. Community Needs Assessment
Health status refers to the condition of a population’s health, including estimates of its quality of life and physical and psychosocial functioning.
Nutritional status is defined as the condition of a population’s health as affected by the intakes and utilization of nutrients and nonnutrients.
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8. Community Needs Assessment
Any number of factors may trigger the need for a community needs assessment:
Existing data are old or data have never been collected on some segment of the population.
A mandate by a government agency at the state or federal level.
Research findings provide the impetus for taking action.
Availability of funding serves as the impetus.
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9. Community Needs Assessment
Organizations approach community needs assessment by first determining its purpose and then planning how it will proceed.
The scope of an assessment must be specified because it can be designed to identify the health and nutritional problems of a large population or it can focus on a particular subgroup of the community.
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10. Community Needs Assessment
Regardless of scope, the purpose of the community needs assessment is to obtain information about the health and nutritional status of the target population.
No matter what the scope is, there are certain principles and a specific process for conducting a community needs assessment.
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12. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment
Step 1: Define the Nutritional Problem
The community nutritionist develops a concise statement of the problem of concern.
The problem statement is used to help plan the assessment and motivate other agencies to join the assessment team.
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13. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 1
The problem statement should indicate:
Who is affected by the nutritional problem.
How many people experience the problem.
The impact of the problem on general health or nutritional status.
Areas where there are gaps in the community’s knowledge of a nutritional problem.
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14. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Step 2: Set the Parameters of the Assessment
Certain parameters or elements must be determined before the community needs assessment is undertaken.
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17. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
The parameters set the direction for the assessment:
Define “Community”
Determine the Purpose of the Needs Assessment
Define the Target Population
Set Goals and Objectives for the Needs Assessment
Specify the Types of Data Needed
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18. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Define “Community.”
Define “community” which might include the people who represent the target population and live within a certain geographical region.
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19. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Determine the Purpose of the Needs Assessment
Identify groups who are at risk nutritionally.
Identify the most critical needs and set priorities among them.
Determine the factors that contribute to a nutritional problem.
Determine whether existing resources and programs meet the needs of the population.
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20. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Determine the Purpose of the Needs Assessment (continued)
Provide baseline information for developing action plans to address needs.
Plan actions to improve nutritional status.
Tailor a program to a specific population.
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21. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Define the Target Population.
Define the target population whose health and nutritional status is affected by many community, environmental, and personal factors.
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22. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Set Goals and Objectives for the Needs Assessment
Goals and objectives determine the types of data collected and how they will be used.
Goals are broad statements that indicate what the assessment is expected to accomplish.
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23. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Set Goals and Objectives for the Needs Assessment (continued)
Objectives are statements of outcomes and activities needed to reach a goal and they generally include a strong verb, such as increase, decrease, or reduce, that describes a measurable outcome.
Each objective should state a single purpose.
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24. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 2
Specify the Types of Data Needed.
Specify the types of data needed, which depends on the purpose, goals, and objectives of the assessment.
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25. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Step 3: Collect Data
Begin first by collecting data about the community or environment in which the target population lives and works.
Next, collect data about individuals who make up the target population.
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27. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Both qualitative and quantitative data help describe the community, its values, health problems, and needs.
Qualitative data include opinions and insights derived from interviews with:
Those people who are knowledgeable about the community, called key informants, and with
Stakeholders who have a vested interest in identifying and addressing the nutritional problem.
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28. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Members of the target population itself can provide information about the community.
Quantitative data can be derived from a variety of databases, including
Registries of vital statistics
Published research studies
Hospital records
Local health surveys
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29. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Types of data to collect about the community include:
Community characteristics
Environmental characteristics
Socioeconomic characteristics
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30. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Community Characteristics
Community organizational power and structures including the key players in local health organizations and media groups.
Demographic data and trends such as sex, age, race, martial status, and living arrangements.
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32. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Community Characteristics
Community health which can include a variety of health statistics such as the causes and rates of disease, disability, and death and the population’s nutrition problems.
Existing community services and programs that can be used to pinpoint gaps where services are needed.
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36. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Environmental Characteristics
Access to medical clinics
Access to transportation
Access to nutritious foods
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39. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Socioeconomic Characteristics
Income of families
Number of families receiving public assistance
Educational level
Literacy rate
Major industries and occupations
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41. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Sources of Data about the Community
Observing the target population in the community setting including where people shop for food and their perceptions of nutritional problems.
Networking with colleagues who may be aware of similar assessments done in other areas.
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42. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Sources of Data about the Community
Interviewing key informants such as formal community leaders like the mayor, religious leaders, or members of the media.
Conducting an internet and library search of the literature on the nutritional problem which can locate many types of demographic and socioeconomic data from the U.S. Bureau of Censes, Bureau of Labor Statistics, USDA, and the DHHS.
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43. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Collect Data about Background Conditions
National policy can affect eligibility for food assistance programs, minimum wage levels, distribution of commodity foods, and other factors important to nutritional status.
The broad culture, which is the interconnected web of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors that are learned and transmitted to succeeding generations, can also influence food intake and nutritional status.
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44. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Collect Data about Background Conditions
Background information on the community’s or region’s health status is also important and can be obtained from international agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization.
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46. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Collect Data about the Target Population
Existing Data
Use existing data about health statistics and behavioral information related to your target group.
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47. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Collect Data about the Target Population
Existing Data Sources
National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program
Public Health Reports
New England Journal of Medicine
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48. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 3
Collect Data about the Target Population
New Data
In some situations new data may need to be collected about target populations and methods can include nutrition surveys, health risk appraisals, screening tools, or focus groups.
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49. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
Step 4: Analyze and Interpret the Data
Data collected must be analyzed and examined and used to diagnose the community.
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50. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
Four steps are involved in making a community diagnosis:
Step 1: Interpret the state of health of the target population within the community.
Step 2: Interpret the pattern of health care services and programs designed to reach the target population.
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51. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
Community diagnosis (continued):
Step 3: Interpret the relationship between the target population’s health status and health care in the community.
Step 4: Summarize the evidence linking the target population’s major nutritional problems to their environment.
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52. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
The summary describes the following:
The dimensions of the nutritional problem, including its severity, extent, and frequency.
Its distribution across urban, rural, or regional settings and across age groups.
Its causes.
The mortality and morbidity associated with it.
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53. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
The summary should also describe:
The major strengths of existing community resources and health care services as they related to the target population.
The areas where health problems seem to be concentrated.
The areas where health care delivery could be improved.
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54. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 4
The summary may also provide information about the cost of treating versus preventing the nutritional problem and the social consequences of not intervening in the target population.
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55. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 5
Step 5: Share the Findings of the Assessment
Sharing the findings with other groups and stakeholders is cost-effective, prevents duplication of effort, and promotes cooperation among organizations.
Sharing also enlarges the sphere of awareness about the nutritional problem.
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56. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 5
However, releasing the results of the assessment to the community at large, without seeking the support and approval of the stakeholders, can create ill will.
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57. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 6
Step 6: Set Priorities
When several nutrition problems are identified the question becomes which health outcome is most important.
Health outcome refers to the effect of an intervention on the health and well-being of an individual or population.
The best health outcome is improvement in the nutritional status of the target population.
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58. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 6
The community nutritionist should utilize principles that provide guidance in identifying problems of the highest priority and should compare findings of the community assessment with Healthy People 2010 objectives.
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60. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 7
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61. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 7
Step 7: Choose a Plan of Action
Key findings of the assessment should be shared with community leaders and other people who are interested in the health and well-being of the target population.
Another action is to use the assessment’s findings to advocate for a change in legislation or public policy that will improve the health potential of the target population.
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62. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment – Step 7
Releasing the findings to the media is one way to increase awareness of the problem and build support for policy changes that address the problem.
A workshop or conference could also be organized to obtain additional information on the problem or the decision might be made to alter an existing program, change a marketing campaign, or change the mechanism for delivering a program.
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63. The Nutrition Service Project
A successful education program that utilizes college students to help adolescents and teens:
Distinguish between sound and unhealthful nutrition information in the media
Learn fundamentals of good nutrition
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64. The Nutrition Service Project
Goals and Objectives
Primary goal = helping children in underprivileged areas learn about health and nutrition
Objectives include:
Promoting volunteerism in the college environment
Helping a community that had limited access to health promotion and education programs
Researching nutrition habits and media viewing among middle/high school students
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65. The Nutrition Service Project
Target Audience
Students attending grades 7 through 12 in a rural community in Pennsylvania
Rationale for the Intervention
Health behaviors begin developing in childhood.
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66. The Nutrition Service Project
Methodology
College students are trained
College students teach nutrition/media literacy during spring break
4 components:
Student director
Group of students in leadership roles for the project
A middle school or high school
Financial resources to cover training and program costs
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67. The Nutrition Service Project
Results
Contributed approximately 2,500 volunteer hours
Reached 230 Pennsylvania youths
2001: 116 intervention students and 60 control students participated
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68. The Nutrition Service Project
Results (continued)
Before the intervention, preliminary data demonstrated that participants were not able to identify accurate nutrition information.
After the intervention, participants had greater understanding of how to view media critically and how to identify accurate articles about nutrition.
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69. Entrepreneurship in Community Needs Assessment
Community nutritionists can apply the principles of entrepreneurship to community needs assessment by:
Developing new strategies for collecting information about hard-to-reach populations.
Forging new partnerships with food producers, retailers, distributors, and marketers to collect information about dietary patterns and beliefs at the local level.
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70. Entrepreneurship in Community Needs Assessment
Community nutritionists can apply the principles of entrepreneurship to community needs assessment by:
Developing new methods of assessing nutritional needs and problems.
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71. Entrepreneurship in Community Needs Assessment
The COMPASS tool kit developed by United Way of America is an example of entrepreneurship in community assessment.
Look for examples in your community of organizations or people who recognized an opportunity and took the initiative to improve the community’s quality of life.
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72. Getting Where You Want to Go
Square 1: Know Yourself
Square 2: Define Your Dreams
What would you most like, ideally, to be?
What would you most like, ideally, to do?
What kinds of experiences help you feel complete?
In what kinds of situations do you most want and tend to share yourself?
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73. Getting Where You Want to Go
Square 3: Set Goals ("mission statement")
Example:*
Succeed at home first.
Never compromise with honesty.
Be sincere yet decisive.
Develop 1 new proficiency a year.
etc.
*Adapted from S.R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 106.
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74. Getting Where You Want to Go
Square 4: Develop an Action Plan
Develop a picture in your mind’s eye of what you want to do with your life.
Pretest your mental picture.
Predetermine your alternatives.
Learn to Manage Yourself
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