Need Assessment Unit I Community Health Nursing

Need Assessment Unit I Community Health Nursing

1. Objectives By the end of session, learners will be able to: Define need assessment Discuss the importance of need assessment in the communities. Identify the role of a nurse in the community assessment. Identify steps of need assessment in the community Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources. Discuss methods and tools of data collection Apply community assessment tools while conducting community assessment Define priority setting Discuss purposes of priority setting of health problems Identify steps of priority setting Prioritize health problems utilizing priority setting tool

2. UNIT-I NEED ASSESSMENT

3. Need Assessment A community needs assessment identifies the strengths and resources available in the community to meet the needs of children, youth, and families. The assessment focuses on the capabilities of the community, including its citizens, agencies, and organizations.  Community health needs assessment  is a systematic process to identify and analyze community health needs and assets in order to prioritize these needs, plan, and act upon significant unmet community health needs. The process provides a way for communities to prioritize health needs, and to plan and act upon unmet community health needs.

4. Importance of need assessment in the communities. A community health assessment gives nurses and community organizations comprehensive information about the community’s current health status, needs, and issues. This information can be used to develop a community health improvement plan by justifying how and where resources should be allocated to best meet community needs. Community health needs assessments are performed and reported at national, state, county, and local levels. Identify the equalities in health and access to services and review the existing health plan

5. Identify the role of a nurse in the community assessment Community health nurses serve important roles in identifying priority health needs of a community, as well as planning and implementing preventative health initiatives.

6. Identify steps of need assessment in the community Step 1: Developing a Community Partnership Step 2: Determine Your Focus Step 3: Identify the Information (Data) You Need Step 4: Determine How to Get the Information (Collect Data) Step 5: Determine How to Understand the Information (Analyze Data) Step 6: Determine How to Use and Communicate Results

7. Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources Physical aspects:  What geographical and man-made structures exist within the community? How do they shape the community’s access to health care and other institutions within the community? How do they shape the community health nurse’s access to the community members? For example, is this a rural community that requires long-distance transportation to health care services? Infrastructure:  In what condition are the local roads, bridges, and highways? Is there public transportation available for community members to use to access health care services, grocery stores, schools, and other institutions providing basic needs? Do members of the community have access to the Internet, electricity, landline phones, cellular phone towers, and other technology? For example, are there buses or ride share services available for members to reach health care services? Patterns of settlement, commerce, and industry:  How are residential and commercial areas located in the community? Are some residential areas located next to heavy industry? Are there areas of the community with higher crime rates? Are there areas defined by economic status within the community?

8. Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources….. Demographics:  What are the ages, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, marital status, education, and first language of the members of the community? What is the average number of people living in a household in the community? For example, is there an area where it is common for several multi-generation family members to live together in one residence? History:  What local long- and short-term history affects the population of the community? What makes the community proud? What events in the community have helped shape the identity of the community members? For example, do public parks commemorate war veterans? Community leaders, both informal and formal:  Who are the elected officials in the community, and what are their roles and relationships to the members of the community? Are there other informal leaders, such as church leaders, academic leaders, corporate CEOs, community activists, medical professionals, or others who serve an important role in the community? What are their roles and relationships to those in the community? For example, what relationships do the school board members have with community members?

9. Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources…… Community culture, both informal and formal:  What are the spoken and unspoken rules and traditions of the community? For example, does the community have a tradition of celebrating Memorial Day with a parade and public tributes at a local cemetery? Existing groups and organizations:  What adult, youth, and community groups and organizations exist that can be used to help build alliances and collaboration within the community? For example, is there a YMCA or other services in the community that promote physical activities for youth and other members of the community? Existing institutions:  Where are the hospitals, medical care facilities, educational institutions, libraries, and religious institutions that serve the community? Are they accessible by public transportation? Who are the leaders in these institutions? For example, is there an urgent care clinic in this community that can be accessed by bus service?

10. Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources…… Economics:  Where do most of the community members work? Do any businesses or industries form a base industry in the community? How is wealth distributed? What is the community’s average economic status: wealthy, upper middle class, working class, or poor? For example, is this a working class community whose members primarily work in a few local factories? Government/Politics:  Are political leaders highly influential in the community? How do they serve their role in relationship to the members of the community? Does political power lie with others in the community? For example, how does the mayor of this city communicate with members of the community? Social structure:  How do community members relate to one another on a routine basis? How are problems solved (or not solved) within the community? What symbols of respect and social relationships are evident? For example, is there a town board that meets regularly and collaboratively makes decisions affecting planning and zoning of the community?

11. Identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including community assets and resources…… Attitudes and values:  What does the community care about? What issues does it ignore? What assumptions can be observed about how community members believe people should relate to one another, dress, communicate, do business, or treat one another? Is there evidence of discrimination of a particular group of individuals within the community? What norms exist for interacting with members of the community who look or behave “differently” than others? For example, is it assumed in this community that neighbors will help clean up the neighborhood after storm damage occurs to several homes?

12. Discuss methods and tools of data collection The observation method of data collection involves  seeing people in a certain setting or place at a specific time and day . Essentially, researchers study the behavior of the individuals or surroundings in which they are analyzing. Survey is defined as the act of examining a process or questioning a selected sample of individuals to obtain data about a service, product, or process. Data collection surveys collect information from a targeted group of people about their opinions, behavior, or knowledge. Common types of example surveys are written questionnaires, face-to-face or telephone interviews, focus groups, and electronic (e-mail or website) surveys.

13. Discuss methods and tools of data collection….. An interview is a  qualitative research method that relies on asking questions in order to  collect data . Interviews involve two or more people, one of whom is the interviewer asking the questions. A focus group is a group interview of approximately six to twelve people who share similar characteristics or common interests. A facilitator guides the group based on a predetermined set of topics. The facilitator creates an environment that encourages participants to share their perceptions and points of view. Focus groups are a qualitative data collection method, meaning that the data is descriptive and cannot be measured numerically

14. Discuss methods and tools of data collection….. Document- and records-based research uses existing data for a study. Attendance records, meeting minutes, and financial records are just a few examples of this type of research.

15. Discuss methods and tools of data collection……

16. Data Collection Tool Need Assessment

17. Data Collection Tool Need Assessment

18. Data Collection Tool Need Assessment

19. Define priority setting   Prioritization  is the process of arranging the problems in order of the urgency in which they need to be addressed. Highly urgent and important problems are put at the top of your list and less important and less urgent problems put at the bottom.

20. Discuss purposes of priority setting of health problems….. Resources are limited Impossible to provide everyone with every effective intervention Limited resources and unlimited demands J ustice and efficiency Lack of Consensus Little interaction about priority setting among decision makers

21. Identify steps of priority setting T he magnitude of the problem or asset T he severity of the problem T he community’s capacity and willingness to act on the issue T he ability to have a measurable impact on the issue T he availability of hospital and community resources E xisting interventions focused on the issue W hether the issue is a root cause of other problems and/or T he priority the community places on the problem

22. Criteria to prioritize problem Magnitude of the problem Look at the prevalence of the problem. Is there a lot of it in your community? Are a large number of people affected by the problem? Is the problem widespread in the community? Severity of the problem Does the problem lead to serious illness, death or disability? Feasibility of the intervention Are you able to solve the problem with the resources you have? Can the problem be tackled with the resources you have? Government concern Do the official people want you to tackle this problem? Community concern Does the community really want to deal with the problem?

23. Priority Setting Knowing the criteria alone cannot help you to set priorities. E ach health problem has been scored on a range of one to five. A minimum score would be one. This indicates that there is very little concern for that health problem. The maximum score of five would be given for a problem that was thought to be very severe. The scores for each problem have been added up in the final column, and a rank has been given for each problem. The  rank  indicates the priority — a problem that is ranked 1 is the most important.

24. Priority Setting Prioritising — scoring and ranking health problems. Problem identified Score for each criterion Total score Rank Magnitude Severity Feasibility Government concern Community concern 1 Malaria 5 5 5 5 5 25 1 2 HIV/AIDS 5 5 5 4 3 22 3 3 TB 5 5 5 5 4 24 2 4 Diarrhoea 4 4 4 2 3 17 4 5 Typhoid 3 3 4 2 3 15 6 6 Intestinal parasite 4 2 5 3 2 16 5

25. Priority Setting Now answer these questions According to this scoring system, which is the most important health problem? Which health problem is considered by the community to be the least important? Which health problem is considered to be the smallest health problem overall?

26. Priority Setting Malaria has been given the highest rank in this ranking system. Intestinal parasites have been scored by the community as the least important health concern for them. Typhoid has only scored 3 in the magnitude column and is ranked 6 out of the six health problems — so is considered overall to be the smallest health problem.

27. Identify steps of priority setting The second option you have available in prioritizing health problems is to ask a group of stakeholders, such as community members or other health workers, to prioritize the problems according to their knowledge and experience. How many problems do you select to address? That really depends on your capacity, and the resources you have to deal with them.