NURS 8400/NURS 8400A/NURS 8400F/NURS 8400M/NURS 8400S/NURS 8400W/NURS 8400C: Design and Evaluation of Programs and Projects | Week 4

How do members of the target population view the problem? Do services already exist to address this problem? What barriers might inhibit the growth and success of a program?

Conducting a needs assessment is an essential step during program planning and evaluation, and it is important to consider questions such as these at this stage of development.

This week you examine the reasons for conducting a needs assessment and determine how to integrate this process into your program planning. You complete and submit Assignment 1, bringing together your work on this assignment from Week 2 and 3 as well as this week.

In addition, you continue to engage in your Practicum Experience.

 

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Develop a plan for conducting a needs assessment
• Develop strategies for addressing challenges in conducting a needs assessment

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Assessment and Planning in Health Programs

• Chapter 1, “Assessment for Developing Programs and Interventions: The Big Picture”Chapter 1 notes the importance of looking not just at needs but also the assets associated with the target population and environment; that is, assessing what needs to be addressed given the assets that are present.
• Chapter 3, “Data Collection Strategies for Needs Assessments and Evaluations”In Chapter 3, the authors examine data collection, a key element of needs assessments. They also indicate that it is wise to plan ahead and consider data collection strategies for evaluation at the same time.

Kettner, P. M., Moroney, R. M., & Martin, L. L. (2017). Designing and managing programs: An effectiveness-based approach (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Chapter 4, “Needs Assessment: Theoretical Considerations”
• Chapter 5, “Needs Assessment: Approaches to Measurement”These two chapters provide foundational information as well as guidance for conducting a needs assessment as part of program planning.

Burrows, T., Hutchesson, M., Chai, L,K., Rollow, M., Skinner, G., & Collins, C. (2015). Nutrition interventions for prevention and management of childhood obesity: What do parents want from an eHealth program? Nutrients, 7, 10469–10479 doi:10.3390/nu7125546

Derguy, C., Michel, G., M’Bailara, K., Roux, S., & Bouvard, M. (2015). Assessing needs in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: A crucial preliminary step to target relevant issues for support programs. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 40(2), 156–166 doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2015.1023707

Millard, T., McDonald, K., Elliott, J., Slavin, S., Rowell, S., & Girdler, S. (2014). Informing the development of an online self-management program for men living with HIV: a needs assessment. BMC Public Health, 14, 1209 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1209

Springer, A. E. & Evans, A.E. (2016). Assessing environmental assets for health promotion program planning: a practical framework for health promotion practitioners. Health Promotion Perspectives, 6(3), 111–118 doi: 10.15171/hpp.2016.19

Required Media – NURS 8400: Design and Evaluation of Programs and Projects | Week 4

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Design and evaluation of programs and projects [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

• “Needs Assessment” (featuring Dr. Rebecca Lee, Shiniche Thomas, and Dr. Donna Shambley-Ebron)

• You may view this course video by clicking the link or on the course DVD, which contains the same content. Once you’ve opened the link, click on the appropriate media piece.

In this week’s videos, Dr. Rebecca Lee and Dr. Donna Shambley-Ebron discuss needs assessments. Then, Dr. Rebecca Lee demonstrates a windshield assessment along with Seven Hills community resident Shiniche Thomas.

Discussion: Needs Assessment

When you are engaged in program planning, a needs assessment helps to determine the actuality and details of a specific problem. It also addresses how the target population views the problem—which is critical since their perspective and motivation to change are essential for the success of the program.

In this week’s video, the necessity of appraising a community’s assets as well as its challenges is evident as Dr. Donna Shambley-Ebron and Dr. Rebecca Lee discuss needs assessments. What additional insights have you gleaned from the Learning Resources that you intend to apply to your program?

For this Discussion, you develop a framework for completing a needs assessment for your program. To do this effectively, it is essential to begin with the program and the population you have identified and then develop an appropriate approach for conducting a needs assessment. This also leads to consideration of the types of data needed and the data collection methods to be used.

To prepare:

• Consider aspects of your problem and population as you review the information on needs assessment presented in the Learning Resources.
• How would you conduct a needs assessment? What considerations would influence your decision making about this process?
• What would be the most efficient and effective methods for collecting data? What challenges could be encountered?

By Day 3

Post a cohesive scholarly response that addresses the following:

• Discuss how you would conduct a needs assessment for your selected problem and the target population. Why is this approach appropriate for the problem you have identified? Support your response with evidence from the literature.
• Describe your proposed data collection methods and evaluate any challenges you might encounter.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Offer and support an alternative perspective, using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
• Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
• Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments made by your colleagues.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional sources. NURS 8400: Design and Evaluation of Programs and Projects | Week 4

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Strategies for addressing challenges in conducting a needs assessment

Introduction

Conducting a needs assessment is challenging for several reasons. Leadership buy-in and support is critical, people may be unwilling to be honest, and it’s a time-consuming process. The results may not be comfortable to hear – but they can help you identify ways to improve your organization’s performance.

Conducting a needs assessment is challenging for several reasons.

Conducting a needs assessment is challenging for several reasons.

• The process can be time consuming and expensive.

• It may be uncomfortable to ask people how they feel about their quality of life, which makes it difficult to get the information you need without having to ask questions that might make them feel uncomfortable or even threatened in some way.

• A survey doesn’t always tell the whole story—it depends on what kind of data you’re gathering and why you’re gathering it (for example, if your organization wants information about what services are most needed).

Leadership buy-in and support is critical.

You need leadership buy-in and support. The needs assessment is a process, not a project. It involves multiple people and teams, so you need to be clear about who will be responsible for what parts of the process.

Leadership buy-in means that leaders have agreed to provide resources for the needs assessment—whether it’s time or money or both. And leadership support means ensuring that everyone involved feels comfortable talking about their concerns and ideas with each other during the assessment process so that their voices can be heard as they move forward together toward solving problems together as a team effort.

A lack of commitment from top management can result in lower morale among employees who feel like they don’t have any influence on decision making at work

People may be unwilling to be honest.

• People may be unwilling to be honest.

• They may want to hide their problem and avoid the negative consequences of admitting that they have a problem.

• They may not want anyone to know about their condition, because it would make them feel embarrassed or ashamed of being sick, or because they fear what will happen if others find out about the situation (for example, being blamed for causing harm).

It’s a time-consuming process.

It’s a time-consuming process.

The first step in conducting a needs assessment is collecting data from stakeholders and other interested parties. You may have to reach out to participants or ask them to complete surveys, ask for their feedback on an anonymous form, or send invitations via email and social media channels. Once you receive responses from your target audience, it’s important that you analyze them carefully so that you can make informed decisions about what solutions will work best for your organization’s goals and customers’ needs.

The results may not be comfortable to hear.

The results of a needs assessment may not be comfortable to hear. You might feel like you’re having to do something that doesn’t make sense, or you might worry about how people will react when they find out what’s going on. But these feelings are normal and should be expected—and it’s worth taking the time to address them because they help us understand the problem better than we could otherwise.

The results also help us understand what is working and what isn’t working in our organization; this information can help inform decisions about whether there are changes needed at all levels (or if some parts of your program need more attention).

Conclusion

So, what should you do with the results of your needs assessment? We recommend that you share them with your team and stakeholders. If they don’t agree with the results, they should let you know that clearly so that it doesn’t become a distraction. And when they do agree with their findings, then it’s time to make some changes!