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Quality Community Needs Assessment In Brief

By Claudette Lambert


Community needs assessment involves identifying what should be done to the community to improve their living standards. Data is being collected preferably from the people themselves since they are the ones who are being affected by the life situations. Since the whole process is done with an aim of helping the community, quality work should be done to ensure that the objective of the exercise is achieved.

Collection of the information should be done by qualified people who have knowledge and skills concerning data collection. These people should at least be having knowledge on the statistical compilations so that they can be able to relate and interpret any data that they may require to use from previous surveys which have been conducted from the same society. Any data obtained from previous surveys may help in assessing the progress of the people and therefore it will be easy to project on future. Thus, planning will be made simple.

Conducting of the whole process may be limited to a particular geographic area in which data is being compiled for a specific purpose. This data may be drawn from the survey which has been conducted by other people other than the government or even taking informal response from the citizens themselves. Interviews can also be conducted so that you can get responses from the people.

Research institutions can also be used to come up with a report which will help to identify the problems that are affecting people living in a certain area. These institutions conduct survey and organize meetings with the people so that they can hear from them. Their discussions with the citizens help in understanding the needs that are supposed to be addressed.

It also has to give you the solutions you really require. When undertaking any assessment you can choose to use questionnaires and survey. You can also opt for a more interactive way such as focus groups or open ended investigation. You are required to start by talking to different people who are aware of the place in general. This might even include heads of community groups, officials or other personalities.

Use of interviews is a very effective way of identifying the needs of the people. Therefore, interviews should be conducted preferably by meeting the people themselves so that physical assessment can also be done. Thus, communication skills are a consideration that should not be forgotten when selecting the team to carry out this task.

Analyzing data is very important before giving the final report. This helps in avoiding submitting of any misleading information to the authority or any other person who is interested in knowing the needs of the community. It also helps in identifying the specific areas that require assistance and the emphasis to be put in such areas.

Conducting Community needs assessment requires you to have a team of qualified people who can be able to collect and analyze data well. With this kind of a team you can be able to meet all the standards that have been set and also it is easy to meet the deadlines. A good team leader will also ensure that the right data is being collected and thus right problems will be addressed.




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