A needs assessment  is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants“ A needs assessment is a process used by organizations to determine priorities, make organizational improvements, or allocate resources. It involves determining the needs, or gaps, between where the organization envisions itself in the future and the organization's current state A needs assessment is a part of planning processes

1. An introduction
By Jacob Coverstone
Jcoverstone@aao.org
I have no financial interest to disclose.
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2. Objectives
Attendees will be able to:
 Define Needs Assessment
 Create and utilize an outline for conducting a
Needs Assessment
 Understand types of identified needs
 Normative
 Relative
 Expressed
 Perceived
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3. Needs Assessment
 A needs assessment is a systematic process for
determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between
current conditions and desired conditions or "wants“
 A needs assessment is a process used by organizations
to determine priorities, make organizational
improvements, or allocate resources. It involves
determining the needs, or gaps, between where the
organization envisions itself in the future and the
organization's current state
 A needs assessment is a part of planning processes 3

4. When do you conduct a Needs
Assessment?
 A Needs Assessment takes place before the activity is
designed.
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5. Why do you conduct a Needs
Assessment?
 The purpose of a Needs Assessment is to make
decisions regarding priorities for the program.
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6. Needs Assessments are about
Evidence
 Can you answer:
 “what evidence do we have that our community needs
this project?”
 “what evidence do we have that our solution will yield
positive results?”
 “what is the reason that we are offering education in this
format?”
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7. “It depends on what the meaning of
the word 'is' is” – Former President Bill Clinton
 Definitions 1:
 Gap
 Need
 Want
 Assessment
 Needs Assessment
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8. Definitions 1
• Gaps
– The space between what currently exists and what
should exist.
• Needs are contributing factors
– What needs to be resolved to help close a gap.
– Needs often relate to barriers
• Wants are possible solutions
– A proposed means to filling the gap.
• Assessment is the evaluation of needs, barriers and
resources.
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9. Definitions 1, continued.
 Needs Assessment is the process of identifying and
measuring areas for improvement in a target audience,
and determining the methods to achieve
improvement.
So important,
it has its own
slide.
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10. What goes into a Needs
Assessment?
 Normative data
 Evaluations
 Objectives
 Opinion
 Timelines
 Barriers
 Resources
“What does it take
to get your activity
off the ground?”
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11. So… what is a Needs Assessment?
Pre-Assessment
Assessment
Action Plan
Needs
Assessment
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12. Phases of a Needs Assessment
 Pre-Assessment
 Data collection. “What do we know?”
 This is the foundation of Gap Analysis
 What is the current state?
 Where should we be?
 How does our region compare to others?
 What’s new?
 What’s important?
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13. Phases of a Needs Assessment
• Assessment
– Evaluation of the data
• What are our barriers?
– Both internal and external
• What Needs have we identified?
• Are some gaps bigger than others?
– Consider both scope and severity
• What are our priorities?
• Do we have the resources to address them?
• Why do anything at all?
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14. Phases of a Needs Assessment
• Action Plan
– How are we going to translate what we have
into what they need?
• Which Needs can we address?
• How are we overcoming barriers?
– List additional barriers hindering progress
• Have any areas been identified for follow-up or
future opportunities for educational intervention?
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15. Gathering Data
 Search for objective measures:
 Scope: How many, or what percent, of patients are
exposed/vulnerable/expected to suffer from…
 Severity: What are the consequences?
 Discomfort? Pain? Blindness?
 Are there national standards for treatment?
 Can we do better?
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16. It's not what you know, it's how
you know it.
 Needs (gaps) are identified in 4 ways:
 Types of Need
 Normative
 Relative
 Expressed
 Perceived
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17. Types of Need
 Normative
 Defined as falling below a standard criterion established
by custom, authority, or general consensus.
 Strength:
 Allows planners to use objective targets
 Weakness:
 Need levels change with time and must be re-evaluated
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18. Types of Need, cont.
 Relative
 Measured by the gap between the level of service
between similar communities
 Strength:
 Can lead to a priority for distribution of limited resources
 Weakness:
 Limits resource allocation to under-performing areas
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19. Types of Need, cont.
 Expressed
 Defined in terms of the number of people who actually
have sought help
 Strength:
 Focuses on situations where people have taken action
 Helps to determine barriers
 Weakness:
 Not all people with Needs seek help
 Loss of the bigger picture
 Misses latent Needs
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20. Types of Need, cont.
 Perceived
 Defined in terms of what people think their needs are or
feel their needs to be
 Strength:
 Easy to come by
 Weakness:
 Subjective
 Subject to the Dunning-Kruger effect
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21. Problems must be translated into Needs
 Strive to answer all 4 types of Need. Each type of need
paints a different picture of the gap.
THEN
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Needs are translated
into Objectives
AND
OBJECTIVES HAVE TO
BE TRANSLATED TO
PROPOSALS!!!
Problem
Need
ObjectiveProposal
Project

22. Remember
 Want and Need are not synonyms.
 A Needs Assessment is conducted before the activity is
planned.
 Pre-Assessment is not enough.
 The more types of needs you consider, the richer the
planning process and the more effective the education.
“What gets measured gets managed” – Peter Drucker
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23. So, what is a needs assessment?
…A Systematic Set Of Procedures
Undertaken For The Purpose Of Setting
Priorities And Making Decisions About
Program Or Organizational Improvement
And Allocation Of Resources. The Priorities
Are Based On Identified Needs
(Witkin & Altschuld, 1995, p. 4).
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24. What is a Needs Assessment?
A systematic process of asking questions, comparing
answers, and making informed decisions about what to
do next to improve human (or organizational)
conditions and performance
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25. Needs Assessment Tools
1) Surveys
2) Questionnaires
3) Interviewing
4) Focus Groups
5) Observations
6) Performance Measures
a) Ranking
b) Grading
c) Scoring
d) Rating
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26. Needs Assessment - Conclusion
Needs assessment is an essential tool in making
sure that the programs that are offered are needed
and that new interventions will meet an
unaddressed need of community and others.
Unless systematic needs assessments are
conducted, precious resources are wasted
addressing problems that do not exist.
Schuh, J., Upcraft, L., & Associates. (2001). Assessment practice in student affairs: An applications manual. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
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27. Needs Assessment Process (Final Thoughts)
 First focus…either performance needs or treatment needs…levels
 Needs assessment is an inquiry tool. The process must be flexible and must
look for the facts.
 Look for needs, not wants.
 Look for failure data or fault data, then look for treatment data and
comparative data.
 Ask the client to compare: “Tell me, how do you compare this to
another experience.”
 Direct approach: Ask, “What do you think? How does it look to you?”
 Indirect approach: Ask, “What do you think others think?”
 More needs assessment fail probably because of inadequate data
presentation than for any other reason.
 Use mixed methods…both quantitative and qualitative, when possible.
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28. Why Conduct a Needs Assessment?
 To guide decision-making
 To provide justification for decisions before they are
made
 To provide a systemic perspective for decision-makers
 To allow for interdisciplinary solutions for complex
problems
 To offer a replicable process that can be used over and
over again
 To focus partners (or the network) on shared
understanding of issues and shared goals
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29. Needs Assessment and Program Planning
 Needs assessment starts with problem analysis
 Integrates qualitative and quantitative methods
 Informs solutions and can define the size of the target
group
 Needs are translated into measurable objectives,
resources, and criteria necessary for program planning
and evaluation
Problems are translated to needs, needs are translated to
objectives then to interventions for implementation
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30. Needs Assessment Methodologies
 Extrapolating from existing studies (normative need)
 Using resource inventories (normative and relative
need)
 Using service statistics (expressed and relative need)
 Conducting social surveys (perceived need)
 Holding a public forum (perceived need)
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31. Arts & Health Needs Assessment
 What are the five most significant health concerns in
your community?
 What are the most significant arts or cultural needs of
the people you serve?
 What other concerns are significant in your
community?
 What is needed to address those concerns?
 What is unique about your community? What are its
strengths?
 What services or programs don’t exist that should?
 Is there anything that you would like us to know about
your community?
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32. FLORIDA OFFICE OF RURAL HEALTH
February 2012
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33. Bad News!
 Community needs assessments can require a lot of
time and effort.
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34. Good News!
 Most of the counties in Florida have or are in the
process of conducting a community needs assess.
 Florida’s county health departments are required
to conduct periodic community needs
assessments using the Mobilizing for Action
through Planning & Partnership (MAPP)
process.
 The IRS now requires non-profit hospitals to
report community benefits based on a
community wide assessment of needs.
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35. HEALTH COUNCILS
 Regional health planning agencies that work with local
communities to identify needs.
 Not for profit, 501c3 organizations
 Boards are representative of the counties in their
region
 Consumer, health provider, health insurers
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36. RESOURCES
County Health Department
Local Health Council
Local Hospital
Florida Department of Health
 CHARTS www.floridacharts.com/charts/chart.aspx
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37. FLORIDA’S RURAL HEALTH PRIORITIES
Primary care services
Specialty physician services
Oral health services
Behavioral health services
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