Digital Mapping Tool
Community Assessment
Community assessment is the participative process designed to gather insights and information to help identify the strengths, assets, needs and challenges of a specific community.
Assets refer to the skills, talents and abilities of individuals as well as the resources that local institutions contribute to the community.
A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs or “gaps” between current conditions and desired conditions of the community.
Community and needs assessment is commonly used by health community organizations and health authorities on HIV prevention and medical care. It is also a tool for strategic planning.
The purpose of conducting a community assessment is to create an information foundation for further planning and action. A community assessment can create a sense of community belongingness, why it exists, where it has strengths, where weaknesses lie, and what opportunities are available.
I.1. Community Assessment Involves
- An evaluation of the current situation in a community
- A judgment of what the preferred or desired situation in that community would be, and
- A comparison of the actual and desired situation for the purpose of prioritizing concerns
I.2. The Purpose of a Community Assessment
A community assessment can be useful in mobilizing the different forces in a community to action, creating coalitions, establishing objectives for the program or intervention, choosing the best strategies to collect the information and to perform the intervention, and finally to identify new ideas, partners and resources that can be used in working toward a common goal.
I.3. Conducting the Assessment
I.3.1 Determine the Purpose and Scope of the Assessment
- Decide whether the assessment will focus on a specific population within the community versus the community at large
- Decide which health topics to prioritize, limiting the scope of the assessment to what can reasonably be accomplished
I.3.2 Define the goals and objectives of the assessment
I.3.3 Select data collection methods to use
- Find out whether the desired information exists or if a new data collection effort is needed.
- Common methods for new data collection include surveys, interviews, focus groups and observation.
I.3.4 Select or Design the Necessary Instruments and Procedures for Data Collection
I.3.5 Pilot Test the Instruments and Procedures
I.3.6 Prepare a timeline and budget
I.3.7 Collect the Data
I.3.8 Analyze the Data (Mapping)
I.3.9 Disseminate a Report of the Findings