INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY DIAGNOSIS.pptx

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1. INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY DIAGNOSIS

2. DEFINITIONS Community diagnosis is the process of appraising the health status of the community, including the assembly of vital statistics and other health related statistics and information relating to the determinants of health and the examination of these health determinants in a specified community (Narayan and Khan 2008).

3. Community diagnosis is a community based, community owned process to assess the health, social and developmental status of the community in order to initiate effective and efficient planning of programmes which can enhance the health status of the community. Community diagnosis is a multifaceted approach of collecting data in the community in order to identify the needs and problems of the community.

4. The Purpose of Community Diagnosis   Community diagnosis aims at understanding many facets of the community which include : Culture Values and norms Leadership and power structure Helping patterns within the community Means of communication Important community institutions History of the community

5. Functions of Community Diagnosis Community diagnosis assists in developing a community-based, community-owned and community directed process in order to analyse the health status of the community . It is also used for assessing attitudes towards community health services and issues. It assists in establishing priorities and set goals and determine the course of action to be taken to resolve needs and problems of the community. Community diagnosis can be used to provide a baseline data for measuring improvement of health over time.

6. Benefits of Community Diagnosis for the Community The benefits of community diagnosis include : Providing communities with an opportunity to participate in directing the course of health services and delivery systems. It provides justification for budgetary improvement requests. It can also be a foundation of information for seeking grants and a tool for public relations in the community. It provides at local level current health information and coordination strategies at national level programmes

7. CONT. It helps the community to be involved in the development of health strategies which are directly responsive to the needs of the community. It provides for locally designed, implemented and monitored programmes. Community leaders, organisations and local health institution provide leadership to ensure that documented health problems are addressed.

8. Data Collection Methods   It is important to use more than one method in order to triangulate information collected. Methods such as in-depth interviews, observation, focus group discussion and questionnaire can be used to collect information. Do not just interview people who are easier to reach such as those who come to the clinic or live near the clinic. You may need to use random sampling so that your data is not biased towards a certain group of people in the community.

9. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods   Quantitative research methods collect specific information and facts that can be expressed as numbers. The numbers can be treated mathematically to produce overall data for the community e.g., number of households with latrines, number of children, and number of people who hold a particular belief. Quantitative data can be obtained through observation, by looking for a specific practice. Quantitative data can also be collected by using questionnaires and interviews which ask closed question which are answered in a specific way, with numbers by saying Yes or No to a statement. For example do you agree that hand washing can prevent cholera. Open-ended questions are asked like this, what do you think about the causes of cholera

10. Cont. Qualitative research methods ask open-ended questions where the community will answer in their own way. It gives rich insight of the community you are researching on. But it difficulty to summarise data collected.   The process of community diagnosis seeks to identify health problems in the community by analysing health statistical data, community surveys, and council perceptions.

11. Cont. Community diagnosis is a comprehensive assessment of the health status of the community in relation to its social, physical and biological environment. The purpose of community diagnosis is to define existing problems, define existing problems, determine available resources and set priorities for planning, implementation, and evaluating health action by and for the community.

12. STEPS IN CONDUCTING COMMUNITY DIAGNOSIS The initial step in the process of community diagnosis is to select the area in which to conduct it. Through the local community leaders a committee can be formed of various leadership roles. The basic steps of community diagnosis are as follows: 1. Assemble the initiating group 2. Select the committee 3. Present the data to the committee 4. Discuss and define health problems

13. CONT. 5. Analyse behavioural risk factor survey 7. Distribute and analyse the stakeholder survey 8. Score or rank health problems 9. Design interventions 10Develop funding strategies