Question

Alan is a public health nurse and a member of the community assigned to assess the health care needs of aging baby boomers in Wagoner County. Alan and his committee are aware that as the "baby boomer population" ages, health care professionals must prepare for a rapid increase in the number of people older than 65 years of age. The committee's purpose is to make suggestions to the health department and county officials on how to prepare for the influx in health services that will be needed for these older adults.

Currently, 27% of the population of Wagoner County is older than 65. However in 25 years, that percentage is expected to increase to more than 50%. Currently, five primary care providers are practicing in the county, and service waiting lists range from 1 to 3 weeks. Only one of these providers specializes in geriatric care. A single 54 bed long term nursing care facility is located in the northern region of the spacious county. Because it is a rural area, no public transportation is available. However, residents can call a hospital shuttle if they need to arrange transportation to a doctor's appointment.

Using this case study, answer the following questions:

1) The first step in community assessment is to identify the client. What are the geographic barriers of the community of interest? Which people are members of this community? What characteristics do they have in common?

2) What methods of data generation should Alan use to assess the community's knowledge and beliefs, values and sentiments, goals and perceived needs, norms, problem-solving processes, power, leadership, and influence structures?

Answer 1

ANS 1 -

The geographic barriers of the community of interest are -

• No public transportation is available as it is a rural area.
• The only long term nursing facility is located away from the Wagoner County.

27% of the members of the community are more than 65 yrs. The five primary care providers are also a part of the community along with Alan.

Common characteristics are -

• They live in a rural area.
• No proper transportation facility available. The residents need to call a hospital shuttle if they need to arrange transportation to a doctor's appointment.
• 27% of the population is above 65 yrs.
• There is low manpower for healthcare services in the county.

ANS 2 - There are different approaches to conducting community needs assessments.

Step 1: Alan can use Health Risk Assessment to generate data.

Underneath is the plan for a community needs assessment

• Identify and assemble a diverse community team
• Develop a team strategy • Define community to assess (e.g., region, village)
• Identify community sectors to assess (e.g., health care, schools)
• Identify community components to assess (e.g., nutrition, tobacco)
• Develop questions to ask for each community component
• Select sites and number of sites to visit within each sector
• Determine existing data to use or methods for collecting new data Identify key informants to contact

Step 2: Conduct the needs assessment

Step 3: Review and rate the data

• Develop a rating scale, and,
• Make a team decision on ratings.

Step 4: Record and review consolidated data

• Enter the data
• Total the data
• Summarize the data

Step 5: Develop a community action plan

• Identify community assets and needs
• Prioritize needs
• Develop and prioritize strategies for improvement
• Create an action plan for top priority strategies.