The Process of Needs Assessment

THE PROCESS OF
NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
By: Mohammad-Sajjad Lotfi (PhD student in gerontology)
GOD
1

The five steps of health needs
assessment
◦ The five-step project planning process outlined here presents a set of:
1. Practical activities
2. Quantitative and qualitative research exercises
that will ensure a robust and systematic assessment, with tangible outcomes, is
undertaken.
◦ The information gained can be used to inform service delivery and improve
health outcomes for a targeted population.
2

The five steps of
health needs assessment
◦ The process includes some exercises and models, e.g. the health triangle, to
assist the project team in:
1- Identifying priority health conditions
2- Underlying factors affecting the health of the population
3- Appropriate interventions for positive change.
3

The five steps of
health needs assessment
◦ As each project will be unique, and will differ in complexity, it is difficult to
provide time estimates for the HNA process – a project may take anything
from a couple of weeks to several years.
◦ The time that individual members of the team can allocate to the project should
be considered at the beginning to ensure the scope of the project is realistic.
5

Thefivestepsof
healthneeds
assessment
6

Step 1: Getting started
◦ To undertake this first step, you should assemble a group of people who are
interested in the project to consider the following questions.
◦ Ensure that you record your decisions for future referral, report writing and
evaluation purposes.
◦ Invest some time in making sure people have a shared understanding of the
common language – this will avoid a lot of potential confusion later on.
7

Step 1: Getting started
◦ By the end of this step you should:
• Have a clear definition of the population you are going to assess
• Have a clear rationale for the assessment and its boundaries
• Know who needs to be involved, and how
• Understand what resources are required, and how to keep the project on track.
8

WHAT POPULATION AND WHY?
◦ Have you clearly defined your main population? e.g. all people living in a
disadvantaged neighborhood.
◦ Have you clearly defined any subpopulation groups? e.g. Alzheimer patient
and their families living in a disadvantaged neighborhood.
◦ Why have this population and any subpopulation groups been chosen?
9

WHAT POPULATION AND WHY?
• Are there any specific issues about this population that makes it significantly
more important than other local populations for assessing health needs?
• Does this population have significantly worse health than others locally
• Are there significant health inequalities?
◦ How does the population you have selected relate to national, regional and
local priorities for improving health and reducing health inequalities?
10

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
• Set clear aims and objectives for your HNA – ensure these have not already
been addressed by other agencies by checking across sectors.
• Check that the aims and objectives are realistic in terms of current or
projected resources available.
• What relevant information is available about this population?
11

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
• Ensure you have checked existing policy directives and priorities relating to
the selected population, and that you understand the remits of the organizations
involved.
• Ensure the target population has not already been assessed to death! These
points will help clarify not only what you are trying to achieve, and why, but
also what is outside the scope of the assessment.
12

WHO NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED?
• A project leader who can:
1. lead and oversee the HNA process
2. Ensure methodological quality
3. Coordinating link
• A team to undertake the assessment – consider what skills will be needed at
different stages of the project
• Key stakeholders – consider the range of stakeholders who should be
involved and be clear about their remit. Ensure the stakeholder group includes
representation and involvement of the target population as well as multi-
agency representation to drive through change
13

WHO NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED?
• Senior managers and policy makers – ensure you have their agreement and
commitment to support any necessary changes arising as a result of findings
from the HNA.
Consider:
• Who knows about the problem/issue?
• Who cares about it?
• Who can do anything about it?
◦ This can help clarify who needs to be involved in different steps in the process.
14

WHAT OTHER RESOURCES WILL YOU
REQUIRE?
• Time
• Meeting space
• Access to the population
• Access to data
• Skills
• Funding to conduct the project.
15

What risks might you encounter, and how will you
overcome them?
◦ Try to anticipate as many barriers and threats to the project as possible, and
consider strategies for overcoming
16

How will you measure success and
ensure the project stays on track?
◦ As soon as you are confident you are going to proceed with the project, you
will need to develop a monitoring and evaluation process for each step in
the process.
17

REVIEW – STEP 1
◦ At the end of step 1 you should be clear about :
1. the population you are working with
2. have clarified the aim of the assessment and its boundaries.
3. You should also know whether or not you have the capacity to undertake the
type and scope of project you are considering.
18

Step 2: Identifying health priorities
◦ By now you will have a working definition of the population you will be
assessing, and have clarified the aim of the assessment and its boundaries.
◦ The next step is to identify the health priorities for that population.
20

◦ By the end of step 2 you should have:
• Identified the aspects of health functioning and conditions and factors that
might have a significant impact on the health of the profiled population
• Developed a profile of these issues
• Used this information to decide a limited number of overall health priorities for
the population, using the
21

first two explicit selection criteria of HNA
- Impact: they have a significant impact in terms of severity and size
- Changeability: they can be changed locally.
◦ Within any population, there is a potentially huge number of issues that could
be tackled to improve health and reduce inequalities. The process of choosing
priorities is at the heart of the health assessment process. It involves
making hard decisions.
22

◦ In choosing priorities, you are trying to screen out issues that do not meet the
first two HNA selection criteria – impact and changeability. Consider each
criterion in turn to narrow down the list of issues that could be tackled.
◦ If an issue is not seen as having a significant impact, you do not need to
consider it for changeability
23

◦ The information sources for any needs assessment include:
• Perceptions of the population
• Perceptions of service providers and managers
• Relevant national, local or organizational priorities
24

POPULATION PROFILING
◦ Gather general information about the target population:
• How many people are in the target group?
• Where are they located?
• What data are currently available about them?
• What are the main common experiences and differences within the group?
• How does the population perceive its needs?
25

POPULATION PROFILING
• Hold workshops or focus groups for those involved in this assessment
• Interview key people
• Send out questionnaires.
• Consider reaching individuals/groups who might be excluded from the main
consultation.
26

What Are The Health Conditions And
Determinant Factors Affecting The Health
Functioning Of The Target Population?
◦ However you have gathered your data, a list of the health conditions and
determinant factors affecting the population should be pulled together for final
debate and agreement.
◦ These will form the main outcomes of the assessment, and are important in
steps 3 and 4 when planning for change.
27

◦ The determinant factors that might be affecting health conditions can be
grouped under five general categories:
• Social
• Economic
• Environmental
• Biological
• Lifestyle
28

WHAT HEALTH CONDITIONS AND DETERMINANT
FACTORS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON
HEALTH FUNCTIONING?
◦ Use the health triangle and attention to size and severity, of the profiled
population.
◦ Then review the list for: Health conditions and determinant factors that are
relatively
• evidence of impact is unknown or contested – then delete them
• unimportant in size and severity – then delete them
• Check that all relevant national or local
• Share the list with all stakeholder groups involved to check for completeness,
accuracy and understanding of the results of the assessment.
29

CHOOSING PRIORITIES ACCORDING TO
IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF THE POPULATION
◦ This step can be done in one or a number of workshop(s) with all those who
should be involved.
◦ Profiling involves using valid data from various sources and comparing this
with different perspectives of participants may seem daunting.
31

CHOOSING PRIORITIES ACCORDING TO
IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF THE POPULATION
◦ Follow these principles when considering data:
• Essentials – information not directly relevant to the objectives of profiling
should be ignored
• Bias – all information is subject to a bias, whether incomplete; untimely;
varied definitions, etc – this is fine so long as any bias is identified and
acknowledged
• Triangulation – assemble the data from a range of sources – if they emerge
with similar results or themes, these will be reasonably robust; if not, consider
whether their biases are different.
32

Which Health Condition/ Determinant Factors Have
A Significant Impact, In Terms Of Severity, On
Health Functioning?
◦ Put each of the identified health condition/determinant factors in a list of high,
medium or low impact by assessing each
◦ for severity: Does the health condition/determinant factor significantly affect
1. the most important aspects of health functioning?
2. other issues that affect health?
3. long-term health?
4. Does the health condition/determinant factor cause death?
33

Which health conditions/ determinant factors
affect the health functioning of many people – size
impact?
• Absolute size, e.g. number of cases of Alzheimer disease occurring within the
population
• Comparative size, i.e. is the local size higher or lower than other local
populations/national averages?
◦ You may find using a table with these headings useful to draw out what the
data are saying.
34

◦ Now enter both the severity and size impact ratings on Table and Check that:
• Any health conditions and determinant factors where the evidence of impact is
either unknown, extremely low, or contested are deleted from the list.
• Relevant national or local priorities are included in the list
• There is agreement on a final list of issues with significant impact in terms of
size and severity on health functioning that can now be considered for
changeability.
36

◦ Finally, identify whose health is most likely to be at risk from the negative
impact of these high priority health conditions/determinant factors – these will
be the target population groups for action.
37

Choosing Priorities According To
Changeability
◦ Using the list of issues assessed for high impact of severity, assess them as:
• High – definitely changeable, with good evidence – keep in list
• Medium – some aspects significantly changeable, but not overall – possibly delete?
• Low – little, no or unknown changeability – delete from list.
38

◦ Then check the list of priorities with both high impact and changeability for:
• Are all three levels of prevention assessed for action?
• Are there relevant professional / organizational policies that define
recommended actions?
• Are these local and national priorities?
• Does this list of changeable priorities help to reduce health inequalities?
◦ It is important to be clear which organizations will need to be involved in
taking the main priorities forward through step 3.
39

Compare Scores, Communicate The
Findings And Shortlist Priorities For
Action
◦ When you have assessed all the conditions and factors for impact and
changeability, ensure you return to your population and stakeholder group
with any preliminary findings.
◦ Check that you have interpreted their input correctly, and that they understand
the assessment results.
◦ Aim for consensus between expert opinion, data and community perceptions
when agreeing a shortlist of health priorities based on the findings.
41

REVIEW – STEP 2
◦ At this point you should have identified a
1. Shortlist of health priorities for the profiled population
2. Assessed associated health conditions and determinant factors for each of
these priorities for impact, in terms of size and severity and changeability.
3. This process will not have produced a totally objective assessment, but
should ensure that issues are thoroughly debated and that a group consensus
is reached about relative impact and priorities.
4. If the project team’s assessment is regularly referred back to the stakeholder
group and to the population for input, and adjustment if necessary, a
democratic basis for further action will be established.
42

Step 3: Assessing a health priority for
action
◦ This step is the assessment of a specific health priority for action. The health priority
may have been identified from either:
• The profile of the important aspects of health conditions/determinant factors for your
target population and agreed list of health priorities
• A national or local priority identified without population profiling or completing step 2
– eg a priority for many NHS planners is coronary heart disease, as both a national and
local priority. If you are starting with a national or local priority it is crucial to ensure
local ownership and involvement with that priority.
49

◦ By the end of this step you should have:
• Identified who should be involved in making the specific change happen
• Gained a clear and shared understanding of the health priority through identifying the health
conditions and determinant factors that have significant impacts on it
• Gained a clear understanding of the boundaries of the assessment
• Identified effective interventions to tackle this health priority
• Defined your target population
• Identified the changes required
• Confirmed that the proposed changes will help reduce health inequalities.
50

◦ The task is to assess each specific health priority for change.
◦ The needs-led approach requires being clear about the ‘what and why’ before
considering the ‘how’.
◦ By completing this step you should be much clearer about:
• Why this specific health priority is important for the profiled population
• What changes you can make that will have a positive impact on the most
significant issues affecting the priority.
◦ This will ensure the detailed action planning in step 4 is based on sound
information and clear assumptions.
51

◦ This step starts with working through the same questions as for steps 1 and 2
for this specific priority, then applying the two final HNA selection criteria.
• Acceptability – what are the most acceptable changes required for the
maximum positive impact?
• Resource feasibility – are the resource implications of these changes feasible?
52

WHO IS BEING ASSESSED BY WHOM, AND WHY?
◦ It is important to be clear why the assessment of this specific priority is being carried out,
and who cares enough to take any notice of the results. Check:
• What is the aim of this assessment?
• Why are you doing this assessment?
• What are the boundaries of it?
• What are the fixed points?
• Who will be involved, when, and how?
• Are key partner agencies and groups involved or, if not, does this matter?
◦ When you feel these are reasonably clear, gather together those involved to go through the
following tasks.
◦ These may take some time, as you will probably need to collect information between the tasks.
53

Identifying Effective Action For
This Health Priority –Changeability
◦ Create a list of potential actions by discussing:
• What are effective actions that could improve the significant health conditions/
determinant factors across the three levels of prevention?
• What is the strength of their evidence of effectiveness?
• Are there professional or organizational policies that set out what should be
done? Include only those with positive evidence of effectiveness, or national
‘must do’s’.
54

IDENTIFYING ACCEPTABLE CHANGES FOR THIS
HEALTH PRIORITY – ACCEPTABILITY
◦ For each of the effective actions agreed previously, check if similar activities
for this priority are already happening. If yes, note:
• Who is involved in a similar activity locally?
• What is the target population for these actions, and how many recipients are
there?
• Are these actions reaching the most disadvantaged?
• Are actions of the required quality?
56

What Are The Most Acceptable
Interventions/Changes?
◦ Consider whether interventions or changes would be acceptable to:
• The target population and the wider community?
• Those delivering the activity?
• Organizations commissioning and managing the activity?
◦ If any are totally unacceptable to one of these groups, should they be deleted
from the list?
57

What Are The Resource Implications Of
The Proposed Interventions?
• What resources will be required to implement the proposed changes?
• Can existing resources be used differently to support the changes?
• Are other resources available that have not been accessed before?
• What resources might be released if existing ineffective interventions are stopped?
• Which actions will achieve the greatest impact on health for the resources used?
58

Key resources issues are:
• People – how long will it take to get the right people, in the right places, doing
the right job?
• Space – is physical space available for the actions?
• Equipment – what equipment is required and is it available? If not, how and
when can it be acquired?
◦ Any acceptable changes that will have a significant impact on health, and
require only low resource levels to implement, should be included in the action
plan (step 4).
59

REVIEW – STEP 3
◦ At this stage in the process you should:
• Be confident that the health conditions/determinant factors with the most
significant impact on health functioning for the selected health
• Be sure the action is focused on reducing health inequalities for that health
priority
• Have identified acceptable and cost-efficient actions to improve the selected
health priority.
You will now be ready for action planning.
61

Step 4: Action planning for change
◦ Now you have worked out what changes you want to make in order to tackle
your chosen health priority, and why, you should concentrate on how to
implement change.
◦ This is the action planning for change stage of the project, and you will need to
bring your team together to agree a plan.
62

AIMS
◦ What, overall, are you trying to achieve?
◦ It is important to remember what you agreed as the most significant aspects of health
for the target population at the beginning of step 3, as this should be the basis of
your overall aim.
◦ • What are you trying to achieve specifically, and how will this be measured?
◦ Your objectives should reflect the health conditions/ determinant factors that, as
agreed in step 3, have the most significant impact and are changeable through
acceptable and feasible actions.
63

◦ To help focus on the differences you want to make, ask yourselves:
• What will the target population do differently?
• What will they say differently?
• What will you see in them that is different?
• How will you be able to demonstrate this?
◦ This will help ensure the objectives you set are SMART (specific, measurable,
agreed, results orientated, time-bound)
64

◦ Spending time ensuring you have robust objectives will help you define your:
◦ • Indicators – against what measures should you monitor progress?
◦ • Targets – what level of outcome do you want to achieve, for whom and by
when?
65

ACTIONS
◦ To ensure you are successful, you will need to plan:
• Responsibilities – who will do what?
• Delegation of key tasks to members of the project team and a programmed of
meetings to which they must report
• Timescales – milestones for each part of the project
- literature search completed
- protocols agreed
- baseline data for agreed indicators collected
66

ACTIONS
• Skills and training requirements for each step
• Administrative and managerial systems to support the project
• Resources – finance, time, equipment, space.
◦ It is always useful to keep checking back to ensure the actions will contribute
to your agreed objectives, and will benefit the identified target population.
Using a format as shown below can help keep you on track.
67

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
◦ As a project team you should:
• Be clear about what you want to evaluate, why, and how it will benefit those
involved with the project
• Decide how you will collect data for the evaluation
• Ensure this includes a system for providing feedback to the population and
policy makers/service providers.
69

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
◦ You should appoint someone to take lead responsibility for monitoring and
evaluation at the outset of the project.
◦ You should put in place systems to measure how well the process you have
chosen is progressing at various stages – process evaluation.
◦ This should be based on the aims, objectives, indicators and targets agreed
earlier in this step.
70

Process evaluation
◦ Some useful questions to enable the process to be reviewed, and amended if
necessary, are:
• Are the original aims and objectives being followed, and are they still relevant?
• What is actually happening?
• Are all parts of the project proceeding as planned?
• What do those implementing the project think about it?
• Is the original target group receiving the interventions?
• What resources are being used, and are they adequate?
71

Outcome evaluation
◦ A key part of the outcome evaluation is agreeing a set of indicators that will
enable measurement of the project’s achievements in altering the health of the
population through improvement to services.
◦ Some useful questions:
• Have the original aim and objectives been achieved?
• Have the indicators improved, and have the targets been achieved?
• Is the project still tackling priority issues?
• What should happen if the evaluation shows the program me has failed?
72

RISK MANAGEMENT
◦ A risk-management strategy should be incorporated from the beginning of
the project to evaluate and address the impact of risk to achieving the
project’s aims and objectives.
◦ It should also be built into the planning of specific interventions.
74

RISK MANAGEMENT
This might include:
• Identify potential risks to achieving project/intervention objectives
• Assess each risk according to both likelihood and impact as high, medium or
low
• Review the risk register regularly at progress meetings
• Choose options for treating/mini missing risks
• Allocate a person to manage risks
• Evaluate risks to ensure effectiveness of risk treatment
• Check for any new risks.
75

REVIEW – STEP 4
◦ By the end of step 4 you should be ready to implement your plan for action,
and have planned everything thoroughly to maximize your chances of effecting
change and making sustainable improvements to the health of your target
population.
77

Step 5: Moving on/project review
◦ This final stage of the HNA process involves the team in some reflective
questions and the opportunity to take stock and learn, both for individual
contributors and from a team perspective.
◦ This is a vital part of the process if HNA is to continue to be a relevant and
effective tool in improving health and tackling health inequalities in the
population.
79

◦ Learn from the project:
• What went well, and why? Check achievements against the original aims and
objectives of the project
• What did not go well, and why? Is any further action required?
• Identify further action to be taken.
80

◦ Perceived improvement in health/services following the interventions:
• How effective was it?
• How could it have been improved?
• What were the main challenges?
• What were the main barriers?
81

If appropriate, choose your next priority for assessment:
• Revisit the shortlist of priorities
• Take stock of any interim changes
• Is the priority still an issue? If so, return to step 3
82

Reference
89
Author: Sue Cavanagh;
Keith Chadwick;
National Institute
for Health and
Clinical Excellence
(Great Britain)
Publisher: London : National
Institute for Health
and Clinical
Excellence, [2005]
Health needs assessment : a practical guide

Thanks a lot
Any question?
Kashan- Qazean village
90

The Process of Needs Assessment

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