Session 2: Community Assessment

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, students are expected to be able to:
 Define community assessment
 Describe the importance of community assessment
 Identify characteristics of a successful community assessment
 Explain the steps in conducting community assessment
 Utilize information collected in community assessment

Definition of Community Assessment

Community
-A group of people who share common interests and experiences.
-Can be described in terms of geographical boundaries such as people living in
geographical defined area e.g. village or street.
-People with the same cultural and social background such as people belonging to the
same religious denomination or occupation

Community assessment
-A process of gathering, analyzing and reporting information about the needs of the
community and the capacities or strengths that are also currently available in the
community to meet those needs.
-community assessment begins by convening a meeting with community leaders,
influential, political and professional people establishing a vision and prioritizing the
issues that require change.
-This collaborative effort with the community and partners provides a foundation for a
community assessment that includes professionals who have expertise on issues and
others who are likely to be affected by the changes you are planning.
-The vision provides a focus for the community assessment, a clear picture of where the
community want to be in the future.

Importance of Community Assessment

 It allows community planners to feel a sense of confidence when they use information
gathered from assessment as the basis for decision making.
 It generates awareness of the issues being studied.
 It promotes people’s interests in making change
 It is a foundation for funding (some funding institutions require a formal assessment of needs
and resources).
 Provides data for decision-making
 Promotes awareness and action

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1

Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 1
The Characteristics of Successful Community Assessments
1. Understanding the current situation first by conducting assessing of the current situation
-Community assessments that result in this information begin with an assessment of the
current situation.
-A successful community assessment provides comprehensive, usable and accurate
information for decision-making.
-The current capacities of the community, services and other resources provided by local
government, NGOs and other partners and the knowledge, skills and abilities of
individual children and youth and their families on health promotion are identified.
-Information on needs is collected through data that already exists (secondary data) and
through newly collected data, also known as primary data.
-Finally, the gap between current capacities and needs is identified and ideas on how to
eliminate the gap can be generated.

2.Define a vision of the future

-Successful community assessments also begin with a vision of the future and allow
questions to drive the information gathering process.
-Allow questions to drive the assessment process.
-Identifying the questions that will be answered by the community assessment permits
group members to be more selective in collecting the data and in judging the usefulness
of the data.
-A preliminary list of questions will also act as a framework for collection of new
information through surveys, focus groups or public meetings.

3.Address issues that stakeholders believe are important.

-comprehensive information addressed issues that community feels that they are
important issue such as lack of safe water, inadequate schools, and inadequate health
facilities.
4.Communicate information back to the community.
-A community assessment that leads to the change desired by the planning group
communicates the information gathered back to community and involves them in the
planning process.

Steps in Conducting Community Assessment

1. Develop a vision for the future of the community, and creating a list of questions that
need to be answered by the community assessment.

2. Compile existing information about the community.

3. Identify gaps in the existing information.

4 .Collect new data which will answer the planned questions.

-Data collection methods may include public meetings, face to face interviews, and focus
group discussions.
CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1
Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 2
 -Through these methods you will get qualitative information.
-Collecting information from everyone is rarely possible.
-Often a systematic random sample ( is a small group of people who represents large
populations) is selected.
-A sample is random if everyone in the sampling frame has an equal chance of being
selected for the sample.
-For a non-random sample such as a focus group, care must be taken in identifying
participants who represent important characteristics of the total list of everyone in the
population.
-Regardless of the sampling procedure, consideration should also be given to issues of
consent and confidentiality.
-Respondents need to know the purpose of the assessment, how the information they
provide will be used, measures taken to protect their identity and that they can choose not
to participate without disruption of any services they are now receiving.

5. Design data collecting tools;

-Creating the list of questions.
-The wording of questions influences the answer given, and may also influence the
likelihood you will get any answer.
-Consideration must also be given to the order of the questions, the number of question

6. Decide on data collectors

-people who are going to assist in collecting data, if needed
-All data collectors have to be trained

7. Collect the data

8 .Compile the data

9
8. Analyse and interpret data

9. Compiling the report and sharing with the community and other partners

11. illustrate the results in charts or graphs that simplify the information for a lay audience to
understand.

Utilization of Assessment Results

-Data generated after being analyzed will inform the ways in which the community identified
needs or problems can be solved
This will include coming up with a plan of action, implementation of the plan, monitoring
and evaluation of the intervention.

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1

Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 3
Planning to Solve the Identified Problems with the Community
-Review the stated vision
-Formulate a statement of the problems identified through community assessment
-Generate possible solutions and a plan of action that uses existing strengths in the
community
-When local residents and representatives of agencies, associations and institutions to whom
you will look for resources are involved in the planning process, it is more likely they will
support your implementation efforts and endorse the results of your efforts in the future

Implementing the Plan

-Involve the community and other partners in implementing the change
-Identify the players and have very clear roles and responsibilities
-Form an implementation committee to monitor progress and give reports regularly
-Have regular meetings to share progress reports

Monitoring and Evaluation of the Implementation

-Use the regular monitoring reports to assess progress of the implementation
-Conduct an evaluation together with community and other partners to assess whether the
required change has occurred or problem has been solved
-Re-plan with the community as necessary

Process in Conducting a Participatory Community Assessment

1. Identify the target audience for the survey , by identifying their attitudes , behaviours and
knowledge

2. Identify resourceful people in the community such as formal and informal leaders

3. Arrange for a meeting with the identified resourceful people in the community – agree on
a set date and venue
4. Meet with the resourceful people as planned and introduce self and the purpose of the
meeting
5. Facilitate the meeting to come to consensus on the felt health needs in the community

Needs and Resources Assessment

-A systematic process of gathering information about the current conditions of a targeted
population and/or area that underlie the need for an intervention, and that simultaneously
offer resources for the implementation of an intervention.

Importance of Conducting a Needs and Resources Assessment

1. Identify where (for example, school, neighbourhood, or street) health problems are the
most prevalent
2. Identify which groups of people are most involved in the health problem
3. To identify the risk and protective factors most prevalent in the group/population under
consideration
4. Determine if existing community resources are addressing the problem

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1

Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 4
 5 Assess the level of community readiness to respond to the issue/problem
6. Provide baseline data that can be monitored for changes over time

Data Sources for Needs and Resources Assessments

 Data sources commonly used in needs and resource assessments for health problems
prevention/intervention programs are as follows:
o Key informant surveys: Key informant surveys are conducted with individuals who are
leaders or representatives in their communities. They “know” the community and are
likely to be aware of the extent of its needs and resources

o Community meetings/forums: This method uses a series of community meetings to gain

information. Although key community leaders are often present, the meetings are held
primarily to obtain information from the general public.

o Case studies: Case studies provide information about particular services people use and
those they may need.

o Health indicators/archival data: Various social and public health departments maintain
information on a number of health conditions, including teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS
diagnoses, and substance abuse admissions, families receiving welfare benefits,
unemployment levels, and percentage of households below the poverty line.

o Census records: Census records provide data on the population and demographic
distribution of the targeted community.

o Police arrest and court data: Police arrest figures provide information on the
community’s high crime areas, types of crimes being committed, and offenders’ ages.

o Service providers surveys: Service providers know the nature of a community’s

problems, available programs and resources, and who is being served.

o Client or participant surveys: Clients and program participants are excellent sources of
information on what needs are being met and what additional needs should be addressed.

o Targeted population problem behavior surveys: Self report surveys and comprehensive
assessments of those to be targeted by the initiative (for example, youth 12-to-17 years
of age) can provide useful information on the extent and nature of their problem
behaviors and other issues. A number of national survey tools exist that can be
employed at the State and/or local level.

o Resource asset mapping: Mapping community resources (including programs and

services that address the targeted problem‚ and/or related programs) shows what
problems already are being addressed and which need to be addressed.

Steps to Address Needs and Resources

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1
Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 5
Generic steps for a needs and resource assessment on health problems are as follows:
1 .Select a target area to be assessed. Be specific in defining the target area so you can
remain focused on the types of data to collect (for example, information from school districts,
neighborhoods, communities).

3. Gather data to develop a clear “picture” of the nature and extent of community problems
in that geographic area. Examine all data sources that provide information on the
prevalence and incidence rates of particular problems related to a target area.

4. Gather data that help describe the nature and causes of the problem. Examine all data
sources that provide information on the problem including contributing factors

5. Assess the risk and protective factors of participants in the target area. Once you have
identified a target group, conduct a systematic assessment of those risk conditions that
contribute to the problem/issues and those protective factors that improve risk conditions
Conduct a resource mapping and asset assessment.

5. Examine the community resources and other assets that exist (or do not exist) to respond
to the targeted problem/issue in the community. Strengthening strategies typically seek to
build on a community’s existing assets.

Checklist for Needs and Resources

 Make sure that you have
-Selected a target area in which to do a needs assessment
-Clearly identified a potential target population from within the target area whose
behaviour needs to be changed
-Compiled baseline health problem data for the target population and a comparison
population (if available)
-Clearly articulated the underlying risk factors within your target area, showing the
factors most likely contributing to the problem
-Assessed the risk and protective factors of participants in the target area
-Conducted a resource or asset assessment

 Specify goals and objectives. Goals reflect what you hope to achieve in your target
population, and should focus on behavioral changes.
For example, the goal might be ‘To reduce alcohol use rates among youth.’ An objective
statement might be: “To raise the initiation age of alcohol use in junior high school students
from 12 to 14 years old within two years.”

 Before formulating the goals, one must have a clearly identified target population. Once the
goals are clearly defined, you will be able to identify how the target population should
change (desired outcomes).
 Information obtained from your needs and resources assessment may suggest a fairly broad
population for which to design programming, (such as “older student”). However‚ it is
important to be as specific as possibl

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1

Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 6
QUESTIONS
 What is community assessment?
 What is the importance of community assessment?
 What are the characteristics of a successful community assessment?
- What are the steps in conducting a community assessment

CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1

Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 7
CMT 05105 Health Promotion NTA Level 5 Semester 1
Notes prepared by Tutor :Agnes John
Session 2: Community Assessment 8