An expanded model of community assessment: A case study

Abstract

A model is presented for assessing social service needs on the local community level. The model expands existing definitions of community needs assessment to include six phases: (a) defining the parameters and constituents, (b) identifying the information needs and common values among these constituencies, (c) integrating and translating research knowledge from the social sciences, (d) developing procedures for gathering specific information for decision making, (e) gathering and organizing community‐level information (e.g., secondary data), and (f) presenting information to the constituent groups. This model is designed to improve the quality of social service decisions by promoting the effective use of social science research knowledge in community decision making and promoting consensus and cooperation among local stakeholder groups through a direct focus on values. A case study is presented that illustrates the implementation of the model in an assessment of the need for day care services for young children.

Feedback of Research Results: Reflections from a Community-Based Mental Health Programme

“…Firstly, we believed that it would be necessary to alter the level of presentation of feedback according to the particular audience. This issue is highlighted by Innes and Heflinger (1989), who argue that results should be presented in such a way as to make them accessible and relevant to the audience. Fawcett (1991) puts it in this way: the presentation should be 'demystifying, comprehensible, and contribute to understanding and future action' (p. 631).…”

The ideal and the actual community: Evaluations from small-town residents

“…The addition of larger places could lower the actual ratings of some of the social dimensions and thus generate greater discrepancies from the ideal. Schriner and Fawcett (1988) assert that assessments of social and other dimensions of an actual community aid in determining community action projects, a claim strongly validated by the burgeoning literature on identifying local needs (Innes & Heflinger, 1989;Johnson, Meiller, Miller, & Summers, 1987). Schriner and Fawcett's (1988) comparison of importance and satisfaction scores indicates how taking a step beyond examining a single type of measurement can aid the identification of development issues within communities.…”

Application of a community needs assessment survey to decategorization of child welfare services

“…Brazil, Cummings, & Vallance, 1993), to our knowledge it has not been previously integrated into a decategorization project. After a review of the literature, we choose a needs assessment model proposed by Innes and Heflinger (1989). In this model the needs assessment process is divided into six phases: (1) definition of constituent groups, (2) identification of information needs, (3) application of research methodology, (4) development of instruments to gather information, ( 5 ) collection and organization of data, and (6) presentation of results to constituents.…”