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Evidence-Based Public Health: A Course in Chronic Disease Prevention MODULE 2: Community Assessment Darcy Scharff Ma

Evidence-Based Public Health: A Course in Chronic Disease Prevention MODULE 2: Community Assessment Darcy Scharff March 2013. Learning Objectives:. 1. Understand importance of conducting a community assessment.

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Evidence-Based Public Health: A Course in Chronic Disease Prevention MODULE 2: Community Assessment Darcy Scharff Ma

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  1. Evidence-Based Public Health: A Course in Chronic Disease Prevention MODULE 2: Community Assessment Darcy ScharffMarch 2013

  2. Learning Objectives: 1. Understand importance of conducting a community assessment. 2. Understand the types of data that are appropriate for assessing the needs and assets of the population/community of interest.

  3. Discontinue Disseminate widely Retool

  4. What is a community assessment? “A balance of studies and stories” Hancock and Minkler, 1997

  5. Why? • Provide insight into the community context • Ensures that interventions will be designed, planned, and carried out in a way that maximizes benefit to the community • Make decisions about where to focus resources and interventions • Ensure that all members of the partnership have a common understanding of the issues

  6. Why? • Influence others in the community and command support and resources for your efforts • Understand the kinds of things you want to track along the way in order to determine how your efforts are contributing to change.

  7. How does it inform us? Tells us: • The main health concerns in the community • The main reasons for these health concerns • The strengths/assets in the community • Where we might want to intervene to create change

  8. Ecological framework • Individual – knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, skills • Social – family, friends (social support and social networks) • Governmental & Organizational policies • Environmental – access to infrastructures & resources

  9. Local Health Center • Hired a consultant to help them determine their focus areas moving forward. In particular they wanted to know the health needs of homeless St. Louis residents. • The only data available as public use data was from the BRFSS, hospital records, MICA information • The Health Center said this data was not helpful. What might be some of their concerns? • Do these tell us about individual, social, or gov’t/organizational, environmental factors influencing health?

  10. Decide what you need to know See handout

  11. Review existing data • Morbidity/mortality • Behavior • Social indicator – particularly important as we move toward environmental and policy changes • More on this in Quantifying the Issue

  12. Collect new data • Survey – behavioral, organizational, partnership • Record review – hospital records, housing records, community agencies, policies and their enforcement • Observations • Community audits • Photovoice or photography • Qualitative interviews (covered in Evaluation section)

  13. Observations

  14. Class Exercise Please take a few moments to observe what is around you…and write down what you observe

  15. Tell me what you observed…

  16. Photography and video clips • Take photographs or video clips of things in the community that influence physical activity • Can be done by researchers and community members

  17. Community Audits A tool to assist in documenting observations • Type of food, quality of food, placement of food • Grocery store • Restaurant • Social & physical structures supporting physical activity • Sidewalks, trails, lighting, scenery, safety • People walking, talking, fighting, gang and drug related activity

  18. Community Audit Tool

  19. Observations • Level of detail • Duration of observation • People versus surrounding; behaviors versus environment • Race/class/ethnicity • Assumptions - family, friends, husband/wife • Observations vs. interpretations • Senses - sight, sound, smell, touch • Awareness of our own biases and tendencies • Did you tell people you were observing them? • Did you participate?

  20. Community Assessment • Decide what to assess • Decide the best method to collect the data to answer your questions • Develop a work plan that identifies tasks to accomplish, partner roles and responsibilities, and a time frame for completion • Organize information as it is collected so that it can be shared with all partners, community stakeholders, and community members.

  21. Community Assessment • Present information gathered and summarized from the community assessment back to partners • Coalition/partnership • Community forum • Meetings with community groups • Move to Action Planning – what do we do to create the desired changes?

  22. The Planning Cycle Assessment Planning Evaluation Implementation

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