CHES AREA 1 Assess Needs, Assets,
and Capacity For HE
Needs Assessment - answerthe systematic planned collection of information about the
health knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, motivation, and practices of individuals or
groups and the quality of the socioeconomic environment in which they live
Needs Assessment - answerthe systematic identification of needs within a population
and determination of the degree to which those needs are being met
Needs Assessment - answerwhen doing this a HES needs to be mindful of sampling
techniques, basic research designs to collect and compare data, data collection
methods, the types of data needed to answer research questions and the need for valid
and reliable instruments to measure health attitudes, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, etc.
6 step process for conducting a needs assessment - answer1. determine the scope of
work and the purpose for the needs assessment
2. gather the data
3. analyze the data
4. identify any factors linked to the health problem
5. identify the focus of the program
6. validate the need before continuing with the planned process
Stakeholders - answerare those who affect change and those who are affected by it.
May be involved in program operations as program manager, program staff, partners,
funding agencies, coalition members or those served by the program/project including
patients, clients, advocacy groups and community members
Primary data - answerare data gathered by the health education specialist directly from
the individual or about the individual or population of interest. These data answer
questions related to the specific needs assessment. Primary data are often collected by
means of surveys (mail, telephone, face to face, Internet), interviews, focus groups, and
direct observation
Telephone interviews-primary data collection - answerRelatively easy method of
collecting data at a moderate cost
Community Forum-primary data collection - answerPublic meetings that bring people
together in a particular population to discuss perceptions of the communities health
problems-silent majority may not speak and a more vocal individual's views may be
seen as the groups view
, Focus groups-primary data collection - answerAnalysis of results can be challenging,
may be difficult to infer consensus and results may not be generalizable
Nominal group process-primary data collection - answera highly structured process with
representatives (5-7 people) from the priority population are asked to respond to
questions based on specific needs. All participants share opinion by privately ranking
the ideas proposed. Time consuming process and may require large meeting space
Delphi panel-primary data collection - answergroup process (decision makers, staff and
program participants) that generates consensus by using mailed or e-mailed
questionnaires that contain one or two questions. The responses are then analyzed and
a second questionnaire is sent out. This process is generally repeated 3-5 times.
Community capacity inventory - answertool for identifying community resources and
issues, involves developing a written list of the skills and talents of individual community
members and resources in community using simple survey, walking and windshield
tours, interviews, community newspapers or directories
Community asset maps - answeris a visual representation of the physical assets of a
community-library, playgrounds, parks, places of worship-created by the community
members as they "map" local resources, abilities, and other building blocks for growth
and change
Secondary data - answerare data that have already been collected by others that may
or may not be directly gathered from the individual or population being assessed.
Examples include existing research published in peer review journals and/or datasets,
such as the US Census, Vital Records and Disease Registries and can also include
National surveillance, hospital discharge data, insurance claims data, disease specific
organizations, epidemiological data such as incidence and/or prevalence rates, death
rates and more
Secondary Data Sources - answerCDC-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
MMWR-Morbidity/Mortality Weekly Report
NCHS-National Center for Health Statistics-National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
United States Census Bureau-population, employment, income, family size, education,
housing and other social indicators and is the collection agent for the Health Interview
Survey (NHIS) as well as the publisher of the annual Statistical Abstract of the United
States that provides summary statistics of populations by metropolitan area, state, and
the country as a whole as well as information on health expenditures, and health
coverage (including Medicare and Medicaid), injuries, disability status, nutritional
intakes and food consumption
USDHHS-United States Department of Health and Human Services