A brief guide on how to conduct a needs assessment

What is a Community Needs Assessment?

The goal of a needs assessment is to identify the assets of a community and determine potential concerns that it faces. A straightforward way to estimate the needs of a community is to simply ask residents their opinions about the development of services within the community, their satisfaction with services, and what particular services are needed. Their opinions can be used in building an agenda aimed at community change that can build the capacity of community-based organizations that are designed to provide its resident’s services and development opportunities. The following is a brief guide on how to conduct a needs assessment for your own organization in partnership with an academic unit or other organizations. This guide is an adaptation of the Concerns Report Method developed by Fawcett, Suarez, Johnson, Whang-Ramos, Seekins, and Bradford (1987) and Suarez, Balcazar, and Keys (1999) “Self help guide: Community needs assessment and action planning”.

How to Conduct a Community Needs Assessment

The following is a “how to” guide that briefly details the steps of the Concerns Report Method beginning with the planning phases and ending with implementation of action committees and the utilization of findings from the needs assessment. Ideally, a needs assessment is done in collaboration with local community-based organizations, advocacy groups and/or a university unit. This needs assessment guide is intended to facilitate the work of community leaders, agency staff, and university practitioners in identifying the concerns and strengths of a community and to develop initiatives to address the needs brought forth by the assessment process. The needs assessment methodology is divided into four phases that were adapted from Fawcett et al (1987); Balcazar, Keys, Kaplan, and Suarez-Balcazar (1998); and Suarez-Balcazar and Orellana (1999). The needs assessment process begins with the planning and organizing phase, data collection, summarizing and disseminating the needs assessment survey results, and sharing the results through public forums to facilitate action planning. The adaptation below is a template that has been used for a variety of community topics. Adaptations of the method have been conducted to address health issues (Fawcett et al) and disability issues (Suarez, Balcazar, and Keys, 1999).

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