community needs assessment
community analysis & diagnosis, health education planning, community map
evaluating the community in terms of its health and nutritional status, its needs and the resources available to address those needs
why should you conduct a needs assessment?
- to identify groups at risk in the community
- to identify the most critical nutrition needs and set priorities
- to assess if existing resources and programs meet nutritional needs
- to obtain baseline information for developing and evaluating programs
community needs assessment process
- define the nutritional problem OR set the parameters of the assessment
- either set the parameters or plan for how to collect data
- collect data
- analyze and interpret the data
- share the findings of the assessment
- set priorities
- choose a plan of action
what do you do in the setting parameters of the assessment step?
define the purpose
questions to consider:
1. what is the nutritional problem
2. how does the target population percieve the problem
3. which factors contribute to it
4. where does this group live, work, seek medical care, buy their groceries
5. are existing services failing to meet their needs
6. how can their health and nutritional status be improved
what types of data might you collect?
existing data (secondary)
OR
New data (primary)
list some sources of secondary data
- community health data
- community organizational and power structures
- demographic data and trends
- economic data and trends
- sociocultural data and trends
- existing community services and programs
(best practices reports, reviews, synopses, meta analysis, summaries)
what is grey literature?
secondary data
it is non-peer-reviewed but high quality research, such as a doctorial thesis or a government agency report
what are program evaluations?
the reports the nonprofits and government agencies write at the end of a project.
if you can find programs related to your target health problem or target population, you will have rich qualitative and quantitative data very relevant to your project
explain what the methods for obtaining new (primary) data elements must be. and list some types of primary data sources
methods:
- simple
- cost-effective
- able to be completed within a reasonable time frame
a. survey
b. screening
c. focus group
d. interview with key informants
e. direct assessments of dietary behaviours, nutrition status.
what is a focus group? and what are they helpful for?
a group of 5-12 people who are asked to share concerns, experiences, beliefs, opinions and problems.
(usually invitation and trained professional required)
helpful for:
- assessing needs
- generating information
- developing plans
- testing new programs and ideas
- improving existing programs
- evaluating outcomes
why is it a good idea to use local primary sources?
- adds to the relevance of the study
- involve the community so they feel respected
- capture unspoken but important details (concerns, rules, norms and traditions)
- get a richer understanding of the context
- personal perspectives
what are key informants?
members of the target population who are leaders who advocate for their group. they often have detailed information about their populations assests and resources
give some examples of assets
geographic:
- libraries
- schools
- nonprofits
- offices
- bus routes
- parks
- arenas
- fitness clubs
cultural and social:
- strong family traditions
- clubs
- churches
- unions
- festivals
- communication networks
- existing social programs
explain data collection and how to begin it
- start by collecting “big picture” data. this could be demographics, community health, existing programs and services or socio-economic characteristics
- then collect specific data about the target population
what are the issues in data collection?
- practical issues
- staff available
- time available
- cost - scientific issues
- sensitivity (false positives)
- specificity (very few false negatives)
- validity (measures what its intended to)
- reliability (can rely on it to happen again in the same way) - cultural issues
what is asset mapping?
it is a community development technique to help document collective wisdom, skills, resources of the community to broaden the understanding of assets available to draw on
at what step of the needs assessment is the SWOT analysis useful?
step 4, analyzing and interpreting the data
why is it a good idea to share the findings of the assessment?
- prevents duplication of effort
- enables more than one agency to address the problem
**always ensure stakeholders are informaed before releasing information
what does it mean to set priorities in step 6?
decide who gets what at whose expense
and decide what health outcome is the most important to focus on
what are the principles involved in setting priorities?
- community priorities, preferences and concerns should be given priority
- higher priority should be given to common problems rather than to rare ones
- higher priority should be given to serious problems than to less serious ones
- the health problems of mothers and childer that can easily be prevented should have higer priority than those that are more difficult to prevent
- higher priority should be given to health problems whose frequencies are increasing over time than to those whose frequencies are declining or remaining static.
priority vs preference vs concern
priority: a problem that has been rated objectively using prioritizing principles to be most important.
preference: a proposal that some advisory team members really like and would like to see implemented
concern: an issue raised by individuals in the target population as being important to them.
preferences should have lower importance than priorities and concerns
once you needs assessment is finished, what are some actions you might take?
- share key findings
- use findings to change public policy
- organize a workshop or conference to obtain more input from the community and the target population about the nutritional problem
- alter an existing program to address the nutritional problem more effectively
- develop a new program to address the problem
what is community development?
the process of organizing and or supporting community groups in identifying their health issues, planning and acting upon their strategies for social, action/social change, and gaining increased self-reliance and decision making power as a result of their activities
seeks to empower individuals by providing groups with the skills they need to affect change in their own communities
recognitzes the social determinants of health
- the community will feel empowered to improve health by building relationships among the different sectors of the community
