Introduction

Planning for the Needs Assessment

The Four-Step Needs Assessment

Needs Assessment Tools

Planning for the Needs Assessment

“Let’s conduct a program on smoking cessation! I am tired of walking through a storm of smoke outside the building after evening meetings in the meeting space,” a congregation member expresses during planning meeting. The planning team agrees, quickly, because smoking is an obvious heath-risk facing people today. Just look at the news stories about it!

However, is that really the case? How do you know if it is a real problem, one that you can and should address? The answer is simple – you conduct a needs assessment.

Before you can solve a problem or concern, you must know more about it. In the instance mentioned above, there are many questions that could be asked. For instance, is smoking a major issue in all age groups for your congregation? Are individuals interested in learning more about smoking cessation? What types of smoking cessation programs are currently available in your community? Is there a way you can collaborate with these programs rather than starting your own program? What specifically do you want to accomplish (stop smoking, delay smoking in youth, educate about the dangers of smoking, etc.) By asking simple questions like these, you will save yourself countless hours in developing programs that may have little consequence in improving the lives of congregation members.

To conduct a needs assessment, you must first plan your strategy. Think about:

Who will conduct the assessment? While assessments are usually conducted by the congregational nurse in conjunction with a committee, they can also be carried out by outside consultants, volunteers, or congregational staff. For instance, many schools of nursing have programs in place in which nursing students serve as interns to help develop, implement and assess the results. This is a great learning opportunity for the nursing student, and can be a real help to you as you implement and analyze the information.

What type of information do you want to collect? You can determine this by thinking about what you hope to learn. Do you want a broad-based assessment of health-related needs? Or, do you want to focus on a particular area? Things you may want to think about, in addition to health needs, might include:

• Geography and transportation – where do individuals live and how do they get about?
• Demographics – what is the age, race, ethnicity, population transience of those in the assessment?
• Social, culture, education, recreation – what are the congregation members’ values and social patterns?

How will you collect the information? Now that you know the types of information you want to collect, think about how to collect the information. There are many easy tools that you can use to do this.

How do you ask the best questions to get the information you need? You need to be careful of what you ask, and how you ask.

• For instance, if you simply ask, “What programs would you like to see your congregational nurse conduct?” respondents will often list what they think others may need. Likewise, if you ask, “Should the congregational nurse implement an exercise program?” congregation members may say yes, because they feel it is important. However, they wouldn’t attend because they are already exercising at a health club.
• If you develop a questionnaire that provides a list of services that could potentially be offered, it often blocks persons from thinking of additional programs that would be most beneficial to them. For example, if the congregational nurse lists blood pressure screening, CPR classes, and Advanced Directives on a survey, the person taking the survey may check all of them. However, that person’s most pressing need may be a support group. However, because that wasn’t listed, the person doesn’t think of adding it.

For these reasons, many parish nurses have found that it is most beneficial to assess the health and lifestyle habits of the individual, rather than asking about specific program ideas.

How will you use the information? It is important to thoroughly analyze the results of the data you collect. Important to this process is to reflect on whether the parish nurse program is meeting (and will continue to meet) the needs of the most congregation members.

How will you publicize what you’ve learned? At the end of the assessment process, it important to share your findings with the staff and congregation. This can be done through presentations, formal and informal, as well as written reporting.

NOTE - It is important to document your efforts for future planning. For a congregation-wide needs assessment and report, download PCC Health Needs Assessment Report (pdf 164KB)