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Chapter 2
Assessing Community Resources
Lecture Launcher
In your mind’s eye, picture your hometown. What do you see? What health issues do you see? What
health resources are available within your hometown?
Chapter Outline
I.
Introduction
 The process of community nutrition assessment is much like the challenge of producing the
“best” photograph of your city.
II. Community Needs Assessment
 Community needs assessment is the process of:
 Evaluating the health and nutritional status of the community.
 Determining what the community’s health and nutritional needs are.
 Identifying places where those needs are not being met.
 It involves systematically collecting, analyzing, and making available information about the
health and nutritional status of the community.
 Health status refers to the condition of a population’s health, including estimates of its
quality of life and physical and psychosocial functioning.
 Nutritional status is defined as the condition of a population’s health as affected by the
intakes and utilization of nutrients and nonnutrients.
 The assessment process is sometimes called mapping, health education planning, or
community analysis and diagnosis.
 Any number of factors may trigger the need for a community needs assessment:
 Existing data are old or data have never been collected on some segment of the population.
 A mandate by a government agency at the state or federal level.
 Research findings provide the impetus for taking action.
 Availability of funding serves as the impetus.
 Organizations approach community needs assessment by first determining its purpose and then
planning how it will proceed.
 The scope of an assessment must be specified because it can be designed to identify the health
and nutritional problems of a large population or it can focus on a particular subgroup of the
community.
 Regardless of scope, the purpose of the community needs assessment is to obtain information
about the health and nutritional status of the target population.
 No matter what the scope is, there are certain principles and a specific process for conducting a
community needs assessment.
A. Basic Principles of Needs Assessment
1.
Step 1: Define the Nutritional Problem
a. The community nutritionist develops a concise statement of the problem of concern.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
b.
c
2.
The problem statement is used to help plan the assessment and motivate other agencies
to join the assessment team.
The problem statement should indicate:
1. Who is affected by the nutritional problem.
2. How many people experience the problem.
3. The impact of the problem on general health or nutritional status.
4. Areas where there are gaps in the community’s knowledge of a nutritional problem.
Step 2: Set the Parameters of the Assessment
 Certain parameters or elements must be determined before the community needs
assessment is undertaken.
 The parameters set the direction for the assessment:
a.
3.
Define “Community.” Define “community” which might include the people who
represent the target population and live within a certain geographical region.
b. Determine the Purpose of the Needs Assessment
1. Identify groups who are at risk nutritionally.
2. Identify the most critical needs and set priorities among them.
3. Determine the factors that contribute to a nutritional problem.
4. Determine whether existing resources and programs meet the needs of the
population.
5. Provide baseline information for developing action plans to address needs.
6. Plan actions to improve nutritional status.
7. Tailor a program to a specific population.
c. Define the Target Population. Define the target population whose health and
nutritional status is affected by many community, environmental, and personal factors.
d. Set Goals and Objectives for the Needs Assessment
1. Goals and objectives determine the types of data collected and how they will be used.
2. Goals are broad statements that indicate what the assessment is expected to
accomplish.
3. Objectives are statements of outcomes and activities needed to reach a goal and they
generally include a strong verb, such as increase, decrease, or reduce, that describes a
measurable outcome.
4. Each objective should state a single purpose.
e. Specify the Types of Data Needed. Specify the types of data needed, which depends on
the purpose, goals, and objectives of the assessment.
Step 3: Collect Data
 Begin first by collecting data about the community or environment in which the target
population lives and works.
 Next, collect data about individuals who make up the target population.
 Both qualitative and quantitative data help describe the community, its values, health
problems, and needs.
 Qualitative data include opinions and insights derived from interviews with those
people who are knowledgeable about the community, called key informants, and
with stakeholders who have a vested interest in identifying and addressing the
nutritional problem.
 Members of the target population itself can provide information about the
community.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University

Quantitative data can be derived from a variety of databases, including registries of
vital statistics, published research studies, hospital records, and local health surveys.
a.
Collect Data about the Community. Types of data to collect about the community
include:
1. Community Characteristics. Community characteristics such as:
a. Community organizational power and structures including the key players in
local health organizations and media groups.
b. Demographic data and trends such as sex, age, race, martial status, and living
arrangements.
c. Community health which can include a variety of health statistics such as the
causes and rates of disease, disability, and death and the population’s nutrition
problems.
d. Existing community services and programs that can be used to pinpoint gaps
where services are needed.
2. Environmental Characteristics. Environmental characteristics such as access to
medical clinics, transportation, and nutritious foods.
3. Socioeconomic Characteristics. Socioeconomic characteristics including the income
of families and number of families receiving public assistance, educational level,
literacy rate, and major industries and occupations.
b. Sources of Data about the Community. Sources of data about the community include:
1. Observing the target population in the community setting including where people
shop for food and their perceptions of nutritional problems.
2. Networking with colleagues who may be aware of similar assessments done in other
areas.
3. Interviewing key informants such as formal community leaders like the mayor,
religious leaders, or members of the media.
4. Conducting an internet and library search of the literature on the nutritional problem
which can locate many types of demographic and socioeconomic data from the U.S.
Bureau of Censes, Bureau of Labor Statistics, USDA, and the DHHS.
c. Collect Data about Background Conditions. Collect information about background
conditions and the broader environment in which the community is positioned.
1. National policy can affect eligibility for food assistance programs, minimum wage
levels, distribution of commodity foods, and other factors important to nutritional
status.
2. The broad culture, which is the interconnected web of human knowledge, beliefs,
and behaviors that are learned and transmitted to succeeding generations, can also
influence food intake and nutritional status.
3. Background information on the community’s or region’s health status is also
important and can be obtained from international agencies such as the Food and
Agriculture Organization.
d. Collect Data about the Target Population. Collect data about the target population
including:
1. Existing Data. Use existing data, such as the following, about health statistics and
behavioral information related to your target group:
a. National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program.
b. Public Health Reports.
c. New England Journal of Medicine.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
2.
New Data. In some situations new data may need to be collected about target
populations and methods can include nutrition surveys, health risk appraisals,
screening tools, or focus groups.
4.
Step 4: Analyze and Interpret the Data
a. Data collected must be analyzed and examined and used to diagnose the community.
b. Four steps are involved in making a community diagnosis:
1. Interpret the state of health of the target population within the community.
2. Interpret the pattern of health care services and programs designed to reach the
target population.
3. Interpret the relationship between the target population’s health status and health
care in the community.
4. Summarize the evidence linking the target population’s major nutritional problems
to their environment.
c. The summary describes the following:
1. The dimensions of the nutritional problem, including its severity, extent, and
frequency.
2. Its distribution across urban, rural, or regional settings and across age groups.
3. Its causes.
4. The mortality and morbidity associated with it.
d. The summary should also describe:
1. The major strengths of existing community resources and health care services as they
related to the target population.
2. The areas where health problems seem to be concentrated.
3. The areas where health care delivery could be improved.
e. The summary may also provide information about the cost of treating versus preventing
the nutritional problem and the social consequences of not intervening in the target
population.
5.
Step 5: Share the Findings of the Assessment
a. Sharing the findings with other groups and stakeholders is cost-effective, prevents
duplication of effort, and promotes cooperation among organizations.
b. Sharing also enlarges the sphere of awareness about the nutritional problem.
c. However, releasing the results of the assessment to the community at large, without
seeking the support and approval of the stakeholders, can create ill will.
Step 6: Set Priorities
a. When several nutrition problems are identified the question becomes which health
outcome is most important.
1. Health outcome refers to the effect of an intervention on the health and well-being of
an individual or population.
2. The best health outcome is improvement in the nutritional status of the target
population.
b. The community nutritionist should utilize principles that provide guidance in identifying
problems of the highest priority and should compare findings of the community
assessment with Healthy People 2010 objectives.
6.
7.
Step 7: Choose a Plan of Action
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
a.
Key findings of the assessment should be shared with community leaders and other
people who are interested in the health and well-being of the target population.
b. Another action is to use the assessment’s findings to advocate for a change in legislation
or public policy that will improve the health potential of the target population.
c. Releasing the findings to the media is one way to increase awareness of the problem and
build support for policy changes that address the problem.
d. A workshop or conference could also be organized to obtain additional information on
the problem or the decision might be made to alter an existing program, change a
marketing campaign, or change the mechanism for delivering a program.
B. Entrepreneurship in Community Needs Assessment
1.
2.
3.
Community nutritionists can apply the principles of entrepreneurship to community needs
assessment by:
a. Developing new strategies for collecting information about hard-to-reach populations.
b. Forging new partnerships with food producers, retailers, distributors, and marketers to
collect information about dietary patterns and beliefs at the local level.
c. Developing new methods of assessing nutritional needs and problems.
The COMPASS tool kit developed by United Way of America is an example of
entrepreneurship in community assessment.
Look for examples in your community of organizations or people who recognized an
opportunity and took the initiative to improve the community’s quality of life.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University