importance of needs assessment in the community

Data sovereignty refers to meaningful control and ownership of ones data [76]. Based on existing literature, community consultation, and drawing expertise from our team of evaluation experts who have over a decade of experience working with Indigenous communities on a range of research and evaluation projects, a novel framework was developed to guide community-based needs assessments focused on the application of digital platforms. Macro social workers engage with residents and community members as partners in conducting and utilizing the findings from community assessments. Instead, larger systemic inequities have limited our ability to co-create local solutions for global problems by decentralizing technology that is widely available [35, 66], which highlights upstream inequities in developing digital platforms. Sample quotes supporting needs assessment topic areas. 2120 Fyffe Road | Room 3 Ag Admin Bldg. Keep a logical sequence in mind, using language that is easily understandable. Beaulieu, L.J. (2007). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. During COVID-19, food access was further restricted due to limited transport and delivery of food products, which increased the risk of food insecurity for community members. Members of the community predominantly identify as Mtis (77%), with some identifying as First Nations (18%), multiple Indigenous responses (1.2%), and non-Indigenous (2.7%) [19]. To ensure that you are collecting accurate information, ask the same. The following five overarching evaluation questions were used to guide the evaluation: i) What are the prominent health issues facing residents of le--la-Crosse? For instance, the geographic location of le--la-Crosse is surrounded by a lake, and the main highway which connects the community to the land has experienced increased flooding in the past few years. The community currently has one elementary school with approximately 200 students from preschool to Grade 6, and one high school serving Grades 712 with adult educational programming. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. 4. PMID: 8260785 No abstract available. 1. This type of assessment forces a community to focus on its deficiencies and ignore what it is doing well (Kretzmann and McKnight, 1993). Integrated knowledge translation will be conducted during all phases to ensure continuous feedback, communication, and knowledge sharing with all relevant stakeholder groups. PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US. Building Coalitions: Coalition Formation and Maintenance. Through discussions with the community, four priorities were identified: (1) the Coronavirus pandemic, (2) climate change impacts on the environment, (3) mental health and wellbeing, and (4) food security and sovereignty. Coalitions and Partnerships in Community Health. Community members noted that changes in wildlife patterns, land use, and early winter ice road thaw were areas of concern, particularly due to the impact these factors have on traditional food acquisition practices (i.e., hunting) and food access. The research team developed relationships with these community members and invited them to join the Council to formally capture feedback and plan ongoing projects to promote health and wellbeing in the community. This project is governed by an Advisory Council comprised of Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and youth in the community. Phone: 614-292-6181, 2023| 2120 Fyffe Road | Room 3 Ag Admin Bldg. Evaluation matrix of a needs assessment focused on community and digital health. Such initiatives must be developed in alignment with a communitys cultural framework, expectations, and vision [12] to support continuous and meaningful engagement throughout the project. For technical support please contact the CFAES Helpdesk. Kelly Skinner, For example, resource and service access, including food and other essential supplies, healthcare, and internet connectivity are issues faced by many rural and remote communities across Canada [5560]. Assessments are performed prior to taking action and are used to determine current situations and identify issues for action. To identify how and where digital platforms can play a role in addressing community priorities, we propose several recommendations for inclusive community-based needs assessments. The importance of assessment. A community assessment can be useful in mobilizing a community to action as it identifies and matches the skills of community members with the resources of organizations. This survey assists tribes, villages, and homesteads in creating a record of the health and social needs of their Elders. Through the community assessment process, programs are able to provide the Office of Head Start (OHS) with information about the changing needs of eligible children and families. Looks at how student performance can be assessed and concludes that this can help us to understand better why students fail or . Based on the needs assessment findings, Phase 2 of this project will involve the development of tailored digital health platforms and programming to support digital literacy. Importance of Needs Assessment. A needs assessment is a research and evaluation method for identifying areas for improvement or gaps in current policies, programs, and services [29]. Findings from your community assessment may also influence your program's long-range goals and short-term objectives. Author G Keenihan. For example, a locally developed app can connect the Mayors office with community members in real-time to provide updates on COVID-19 outbreaks. There is a considerable body of evidence establishing the need for ethical community-research partnerships which empower citizens and ensure relevant and sustainable solutions [13, 10]. Needs assessments can occur both before and during an evaluation or program implementation; however, needs assessments are most effective when they are conducted before a new initiative begins or before a decision is made about what to do (e.g., how to make program changes) [29]. To demonstrate the application of this framework, a community-engaged needs assessment conducted with a subarctic Indigenous community in Canada is described and discussed in detail. This framework offers a flexible template that can be used iteratively and applied to various community-engaged needs assessments in a range of areas, including but not limited to community health and wellness projects. Meaning of needs assessment A needs assessment is described as a process to collect information about an implied or expressed need that can be easily met by conducting training. Due to its strategic location, Montreal-based fur traders established the first trading point in le--la-Crosse in 1776, making the community Saskatchewans oldest continually inhabited community next to Cumberland House [45]. A relationship built on respect, reciprocity, mutual understanding, and prioritizing the needs and vision of communities is essential for sustainable impact. Community members noted that expanding digital infrastructure had to be paired with efforts to improve digital literacyparticularly as it relates to data security, privacy, and online misinformation. One-hour interviews were conducted one-on-one and followed a semi-structured interview format. Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. It provides a framework for developing and identifying . Development and importance of health needs assessment The engagement and overall approach to working with the community of le--la-Crosse applied a Two-Eyed Seeing lens. Select data collection methods to use. Introduction This resource provides a definition of 'needs assessment' and outlines how to undertake one. Established in 1776, le--la-Crosse is a northern subarctic community with road access in northwest Saskatchewan. A community assessment is usually performed early in the development of a coalition to better understand the community and decide how the coalition might best address its concerns (Butterfoss, 2007). and Francisco, V.T. Sakitawak, the Cree name for le--la-Crosse, means where the rivers meet, hence the community was an historically important meeting point for the fur trade in the 1800s [43, 44] The community lies on a peninsula on the Churchill River, near the intersections with the Beaver River and Canoe River systems. Citation: Bhawra J, Buchan MC, Green B, Skinner K, Katapally TR (2022) A guiding framework for needs assessment evaluations to embed digital platforms in partnership with Indigenous communities. "Evaluating Community Partnerships and Coalitions with Practitioners in Mind." . Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. le--la-Crosse shared their vision of integrating digital technology and infrastructure as part of its growth, thus the needs assessment was identified as an appropriate method to provide the formative information necessary to understand what the needs are, including who (i.e., players, partners), and what (i.e., information sources) would need to be involved, what opportunities exist to address the needs, and setting priorities for action with key community stakeholders [47]. A needs assessment is recommended to be carried out before planning resource allocation in a community as it could help to identify the needs of the people. On a federal level, community assessment findings gathered across grantee programs may point to emerging or changing needs within specific populations or geographic areas, which may in turn drive new priorities at a national level. In contrast, a community assessment seeks to empower community members by allowing them to take ownership in affecting the health of their community instead of providing them with a prescription of what their community needs. During the pre-assessment phase, the coalition can also identify community partners, ask them to self-assess their resources and ask them to identify the health issues that they believe are most important to address (Butterfoss, 2007). Moreover, to co-create digital platforms, the le--la-Crosse Citizen Scientist Advisory Council identified key features to embed in CO-Away, including free virtual care for citizens via a smartphone app at the frontend, and access to anonymized community data on the backend for decision-makers. Toolkit for planning, leading, and using community health needs assessments; Provides nine-step assessment . Irrespective of the project dynamics, needs assessments rely on detailed information and context about a community for a project to succeed. Instead, the knowledge of historical issues, challenges, and success stories in the community is considered Indigenous Knowledge for this needs assessment, and more importantly, this Indigenous Knowledge informed the focus areas and next steps for this project. In conducting digital community-based needs assessments, the application of a Two-Eyed Seeing lens enables us to leverage strengths of both Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing to help focus on key priorities and develop solutions. Consistent with Indigenous populations across Canada, the average age of the community is 32.7 years, roughly 10 years younger than the Canadian non-Indigenous average [19]. Given the potential for digital technology to bridge access gaps, it has become pertinent to invest in digital infrastructure and platform development. Three key informant interviews were conducted in le--la-Crosse between February and April 2020. le--la-Crosse has a regional hospital with Emergency Services, which includes a health services centre with a total of 29 beds. A Needs Assessment is an extension of the strategic planning process. Program Management and Fiscal Operations, Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center, Head Start Collaboration Offices and State Systems, Exploring the Head Start Program Performance Standards. More importantly, the community owns the data to ensure data sovereignty; II) Privacy: Utilizing a cutting-edge methodology called federated machine learning, we will develop artificial intelligence algorithms that stores sensitive data such as participant location on mobile devices itself (i.e., sensitive data are not stored in external servers); III) Security and scalability: The backend server will be located in Cloud in Canada, which allows for horizontal and vertical scalability (i.e., the potential for developing multiple frontend apps and decision-making dashboards). These principles include ownership of knowledge and data, control over all aspects of research, access to information about ones own community, and possession or control of data [68]. All residents have skills, abilities and talents that they can contribute to the community. Even for community-based initiatives that are not focused on a digital platforms, digital technologies will inevitably be a part of the solution, a barrier, or both. CFAES Diversity | Nondiscrimination notice|Site Map. Ceremony is not a key part of community functioning; thus, specific cultural ceremonies were not conducted upon advice of the Advisory Council. 1993 Dec;2(3):131-2. Apps also have the potential to connect communities to resources within and outside of the community [35, 57]. It identifies program and community resources available to meet their needs and specifies where there are gaps. The Community needs, perceptions and demand: community assessment tool can be used by countries to rapidly assess and respond to community health needs and perceptions around access and effective use of essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak. While digital platforms have been used in Indigenous communities for numerous initiatives, including environmental mapping initiatives (e.g., research and monitoring, land use planning, and wildlife and harvest studies) [37, 38] and telehealth [39], there has largely been isolated app development without a corresponding investment in digital infrastructure. Southeastern Pennsylvania Community Health Needs Assessment 2022 Research has shown that in many rural and remote communities, smartphone ownership is not the limiting factorit is internet inequity, which is defined as differential internet access based on wealth, location (urban, rural, or remote), gender, age, or ethnicity [61]. The community assessment (CA) is the collection and analysis of data related to the needs and characteristics of Head Start-eligible children and families in the grantee service area (i.e., geographic area). The resulting partnership also enabled the conceptualization of tangible action items that were aligned with current and future prioritiesa key factor in the sustainability and feasibility of community-based initiatives [48, 54]. As part of Phase 2, digital literacy programs and tailored digital health platforms will be pilot tested and adapted prior to their implementation. This resource is for practitioners and policy makers who want to learn more about the needs assessment process or how to conduct a needs assessment. Social workers use needs assessments to secure resources to address macro problems, to assist in the modification of policy, to improve services, and to establish or strengthen partnerships with other agencies and organizations. Why Conduct a Community Assessment? | ECLKC Different types of needs in a community needs assessment As a starting point and rationale for this needs assessment, the community of le--la-Crosse values the potential of technology for improving health communication, information reach, access to resources, and care, and was interested in identifying priorities to begin building digital infrastructure. Recommendations for community-based needs assessments to conceptualize and implement digital infrastructure are put forward, with an emphasis on self-governance and data sovereignty. As a result, Two-Eyed Seeing approach informed all aspects of the research process. A manual open coding process was conducted by two reviewers who reached consensus on the final coding manual and themes. Phase 1 involved identifying core health priorities and desired supports in the community of le--la-Crosse. The results also satisfy the requirement for Title VI grants from ACL, which are awarded every . Thus my main emphasis is on using focus groups as an important methodology in community needs assessments. Of greater concern, however, was how COVID-19 exacerbated many existing health concerns including diabetes and hypertension in the community. Ohio Center for Action on Coalition Development (1992). In particular, the needs assessment revealed that smartphone apps, which most citizens are well-versed with, can be used to provide local services and access to resources. The importance of assessment. Be clear on what the ideal state is. Feedback on each needs assessment topic area is summarized in the sections below. The authors also acknowledge the support of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority in advancing the uptake of digital health applications. Jasmin Bhawra, Keep the information relevant, practical, credible and understandable. It elucidates the gaps in the existing service delivery system that need to be filled in order to address the problem. It is much easier and less costly to adapt an existing instrument than to create one from scratch. Each focus group had four participants, were two-hours in length, and followed an unstructured approach. This approach was also important to establishing trust and respect for the variety of perspectives that could be used to address community priorities. The importance of assessment | Emerald Insight Needs assessment: A tool for program planning and community building - AIFS PDF Needs Assessment Guidebook - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education The needs assessment guiding framework informed specific discussions of key issues in the community of le--la-Crosse. Second, it is important for researchers and evaluators to gain an understanding of the current digital infrastructure and connectivity in the community. The Guiding Framework was critical to establishing a partnership with the community of le--la-Crosse, as it enabled the research team to obtain detailed insight into their prioritiesin this case, community healthas well as community capacity. By collecting a variety of information from multiple sources, you can gain a full understanding of the circumstances. Benefits of a community needs assessment. Consider what worked well, what problems were encountered and what could have been done better. Qualitative data were collected from key decision-makers and other members within the community. An environmental scan of relevant programs, three key informant interviews, and two focus groups (n = 4 in each) were conducted to systematically identify community priorities. CDC - Assessment and Plans - Community Health Assessment - STLT Gateway The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has catalyzed the expansion of digital technology, infrastructure and the use of digital devices in delivering essential services (e.g., healthcare) and programs to communities [35, 36]. Considering the challenges, immense potential, and learnings from applying the Guiding Framework, a tailored digital platform was conceptualized called Sakitawak Health. The le--la-Crosse hospital is a regional health service centre serving the community as well as surrounding areas. le--la-Crosse has a population of roughly 1,300 people [19]. v.78 (7); Jul 1988. Establishing the Community Assessment Team, Establish the Community Assessment Timeline, Prepare for the Community Assessment Process, Inform Key Stakeholders About the Community Assessment Process, Five Key Considerations in Assessment Design, Using Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions, An Important Distinction: Quantitative and Qualitative Data, Plan Data Collection Logistics, Including Cultural Considerations, Review Data Analysis Purpose and Procedures, Considerations in Conducting Data Analysis, Key Considerations in Preparing to Analyze Data, Select Data Analysis Strategies and Procedures, Long-Term Goals and Measurable Objectives, Service Areas, Recruitment Areas, and Program Locations, Recruitment, Selection Criteria, and Enrollment Priorities, Reporting Community Resources and Strengths, Communicate the Community Assessment Data and Recommendations, Review and Update the Community Assessment, Incorporate the Community Assessment Process into the Program's Ongoing Planning, Community Assessment Interactive Overviews. Community Needs Assessment. Discussions with le--la-Crosse about data sovereignty centered around citizen ownership of data, community access, and ensuring data privacy and security. Many communities have a complicated relationship with research as a result of colonialism, and the trauma of exploitation and discrimination has continued to limit the participation of some communities in academic partnerships [16]. The Asset-Based Community Development Institute. In community-based research projects, needs assessments are one of the first steps to identify community priorities. (2004). Indigenous Peoples in Canada experience a disproportionate number of health, economic, and social inequalities compared to non-Indigenous Canadians [17]. Data Availability: Data are co-owned by the community and all data requests should be approved by the Citizen Scientist Advisory Council and the University of Regina Research Office. Given the widespread adoption of digital technology, digital platforms can provide rich data to identify and address community crises [2, 3, 35]. A community assessment can also be used to do the following: The process of conducting a community assessment can be divided into three phases: pre-assessment, assessment and post-assessment. Indigenous Knowledge is not limited to the knowledge of Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers; however, they play a critical role in guiding that knowledge through by providing historical, geographic, and cultural context. For example, Telehealth [69, 70] in the Canadian north offers citizens access to essential healthcare services, including video appointments with medical specialists. In addition, after-school programs including traditional food education (i.e., cooking classes) and land-based activities (i.e., berry picking) led by Elders support the goals of the wellness model. Community Needs Assessment- NSTP LECTURE - Studocu The evaluation approach was culturally-responsive and included empowerment principles [4850]. Community members noted that the load often exceeded the capacity of the single hospital, and some patients and procedures were relocated to hospitals and clinics in the larger city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. These platforms were used throughout the pandemic to communicate health information about COVID-19 case counts and trends. This study illustrated the importance of needs assessment in planning health promoting school initiatives by comparing the results of youth risk behaviours surveys conducted at two . Community Needs Assessment | Encyclopedia of Social Work [3] Needs assessments can help improve policy or program decisions, individuals, education, training, organizations, communities, or products. A community health needs assessment is not a one-off activity but a developmental process This paper provides a step-by-step guide for conducting needs assessments in collaboration with communities in the digital age. - PMC. A guiding framework for community-based needs assessments to embed digital platforms. If you have a disability and experience difficulty accessing this content request accommodation here. [2] Needs assessments require sufficient data. However description of a population that is not entirely visible requires engaging the population in defining itself and determining its members' needs. The community assessment (CA) is the collection and analysis of data related to the needs and characteristics of Head Start-eligible children and families in the grantee service area (i.e., geographic area). A review of recent literature on community-based needs assessments uncovered numerous resources for conducting evaluations of digital platforms, however, a key gap is the lack of practical guidance for conducting needs assessments in close collaboration with communities in ways that acknowledge existing needs, resources, supports and infrastructure that also incorporates the potential role of digital platforms in addressing community priorities. This paper aims to provide researchers and evaluators with a framework (step-by-step guide) to conduct needs assessments for digital platforms in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Craig, Christopher, et, al, Systematic review of EASY-care needs assessment for community-dwelling older . However, it was unclear whether everyone who owns smartphones also has consistent data plans or home internet connections. 2. Assessing Community Needs and Resources | Community Tool Box

Entrance Hall Synonym, Band With The 1997 Hit Semi-charmed Life, Articles I