We say it again! A problem well defined is only half the solution!- KNOWING WHAT TO DO AND DOING IT MAKES IT A FULL SOLUTION and that will be our focus for today’s blog post-knowing what to do and how to do it.
In Part One of this Needs Assessment series, we discussed what a needs assessment was and why we should do one. But now that you are intrigued and are back for more - IT IS TIME FOR ACTION!
Last blog, we said that a needs assessment is a strategic, documented and evidenced-based approach that allows us to get an insightful view on the social needs or issues of a place or group and to determine which issues should be prioritized for action. So, the question now is- HOW DO WE DO THAT?
The truth is there is 'no one way’ to do a needs assessment but there are some general steps that can be used to complete one. Look below at this diagram by Suarez-Balcazar (2018) which gives a general overview of the needs assessment cycle from planning to reporting.
Needs Assessment Process Cycle
To build on the diagram you just looked at, here are some STEPS to take when developing and executing your needs assessment to make it wholistic and participatory.
STEP 1: MAKE A PLAN
The planning stage of your needs assessment will be the stage where you set your OBJECTIVES. This is the stage where you ask questions that may seem obvious but will be crucial when you must develop parts of your programme plan such as your ‘background’ or ‘rationale’.
Obvious questions may sound like – ‘Who is the target group?’. Although this may seem like it has an obvious answer at first, when developing your programme efforts you must be very specific in defining who your programme is serving. Take for instance :
Prior to doing your needs assessment you may have said you wanted to target ‘youths that deal with drug abuse’- but that target group can be wide. It can include: males, females, teenagers and young adults, therefore asking this simple question during your needs assessment may help you to see which groups specifically can be prioritized. The needs assessment may help you to narrow your focus to perhaps ‘females ages 18-25 in the Boardwalk community who struggle with drug abuse’.
Therefore, in this stage you need to ask the questions of WHAT, WHO, WHEN, WHERE WHY and HOW and even HOW MANY.
This is also the stage where you create a work plan, consider the resources and time constraints you have and the capacity (expertise/manpower) you need to carry out this needs assessment. Hand in hand with this internal planning, there needs to be a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder analysis includes mapping those groups and individuals who will be affected by your interventions, and/or are already doing related activities to address certain needs so that you can identify opportunities for partnership to avoid duplication of efforts and how they can benefit from collaborating in the needs assessment. This can be helpful in acknowledging what you can (and cannot) bring to the table. The stakeholders will be crucial to identify and bring in from early as their input will help shape the questions you ask.
Note: One of the very first activities you should try to engage in where possible is an extensive literature review to determine if a baseline exists. This is not just the use of academic papers (or publicly available reports) but includes reaching out to community groups that may have done small assessments over time or have access to monitoring data specific to the communities of interest which is why your stakeholder analysis is so critical.
STEP 2: DEVELOP YOUR METHODS and TOOLS
The needs assessment is about collecting data therefore there is a whole stage dedicated to choosing method(s) and developing tools. This stage will also require some preliminary consideration for how gathered data will be analyzed which is another step.
The data you collect can be quantitative and/or qualitative, and although the needs assessment usually involves using primary sources, the use of secondary data may also be useful in providing information that is contextually relevant to the communities of interest and gives information on past efforts which can aid in the development of your approaches.
There are a variety of methods and tools that can be used to ascertain needs such as desk reviews, focus groups, key stakeholder interviews or expert consultations, or tools such as surveys. Also, participatory methods such as root cause analysis and mind mapping help to focus the gaps and identify priorities and specific challenges that will need to be overcome. You can use one or a combination of methods and tools depending on what may be suitable for the context.
Therefore, the METHODS and TOOLS you will use should be focused on ascertaining the ‘variety and depth’ of the needs present and learning more about your target population and the possible ways of engaging with them in the future.
In addition to creating tools for gathering information on the needs, you need to create a guiding criterion to help rate and categorize needs after you have gathered a 'range of the existing and possible needs' of the target group. This will be the criteria for prioritization, it can be based on urgency and access among other criteria. One way to make the prioritization process more participatory is by ensuring representatives of the target group and other community stakeholders are included as part of the decision-making team using clear criteria regarding how they are engaged in this process.
STEP 3: ENGAGE & COLLECT
This is the data-gathering stage where you will engage with your possible target population and stakeholders through the employment of your methodologies and tools to collect data. This implementation can be done in phases with different stakeholders.
STEP 4: ANALYZE, INTERPRET & SUMMARIZE
After you have collected your data, this is the stage where you organize and analyze the data collected. This stage can be done simultaneously with stage three if it is qualitative, but the complete analysis of the findings would only be done primarily after all data were collected.
There are several ways to analyze your data, whether through content analysis, thematic analysis, descriptive statistics etc. but your analysis will depend on the type of data collected. You can also present your data using different formats, whether by charts, graphs, diagrams and tables.
This is also the section where you summarize your findings by identifying themes, gaps, and limitations that may have occurred during the data collection. In this stage you can apply prioritization scales to choose specific needs that can be of possible focus for the future programme to be developed.
STEP 5: DISSEMINATE, REPORT, & FEEDBACK
Disseminate and Report: Ensure that the summarized information is shared with all relevant stakeholders who will be involved in the programme development and execution. This is the stage where you present the outcomes of the needs assessment especially the NEEDS that were identified.
Feedback: This is the stage where you also want to receive feedback from programme coordinators, funders, stakeholders, and the like. Based on this feedback you will now be able to have a wholesome report from all the stakeholders involved.
STEP 6: IDENTIFY NEXT STEPS
After receiving final feedback on the needs assessment outcomes, identifying next steps are critical because now is the time to use the findings to develop a well-thought-out programme initiative informed by an evidence-based approach.
That’s all the steps we have for you!
Now you know the other HALF!
Time for action! LET'S DO THIS NEEDS ASSESSMENT!
We do hope this 2-part series on Needs Assessment was engaging and informative for you and we can't wait to help you develop and execute your needs assessment. Reach out to us at admin@evalu-core.com for an in-depth consideration of your programme needs.
References
Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2018). Community Needs Assessment: Bringing Real Voices to the Health Care System. In: Calhoun, E., Esparza, A. (eds) Patient Navigation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6979-1_1
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