Conducting Community Needs Assessments: Planning for the growing older population

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Conducting Community Needs Assessments Planning
for the growing older population

• Jan Mutchler, PhD, Caitlin Coyle, MS
• Hayley Gravette, MSW
• University of Massachusetts Boston
• Department of Gerontology
• Massachusetts Council on Aging Conference 2012
• October 3, 2012 Falmouth, MA

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Outline of todays presentation

• What is a needs assessment?
• How can a needs assessment be helpful to a
  Council on Aging?
• Components of a needs assessment
• Working with a research partner

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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 Witkin
  and Altschuld, 1995
• Three basic components
• Pre-assessment
• Assessment
• Post-assessment
• Keep the goal in mind
• No absolutes

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How can a needs assessment be helpful to a
Council on Aging?

• Provide backdrop for planning
• Achieve internal goals
• Achieve external goals

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Pre-assessment planning

• Understand WHY you are conducting a needs
  assessment
• Broad and informative
• Targeted to a specific goal
• Develop a thorough roadmap and timeline for the
  process
• Accept that this will change and be delayed
• Identify areas of concern or potential barriers
• Develop strategies about how to overcome them

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Promoting awareness

• Create community buy-in before the assessment
  begins
• Propose plan to community leaders
• News releases
• Letter from public official (s)
• Post-card mailing
• Flyers
• Local events

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Assessment sources of data

• Demographic data from existing sources
• Census American Community Survey
• Focus groups
• Conducting a sample survey
• Key informant interviews
• Each source of data has strengths, limitations,
  challenges

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Using demographic data

• Opportunities and examples
• Data from the decennial Census (latest was 2010)
  for every community age, race, sex, household
  composition, owner occupied residence
• Data from the American Community Survey
  (conducted annually). Available every year in
  one-year files (for the largest communities) in
  three year files (for medium-sized communities)
  and in five year files (for small communities)

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Plymouth Town 2010 Census

• Living arrangements among people aged 65

• Owner occupancy for householders age 60

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Age composition

• Age distribution of Smithville senior center
  participants

• Age distribution of Smithville

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Learning more about your residents needs

• Median household income in Worcester

• disabled (age 65)

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Conducting a survey

• Question Construction
• Length
• Sampling
• Online v. mail v. phone

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Focus groups

• Planning Recruitment
• Facilitators role
• Questions

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Key informant interviews

• Selection of key informants
• Structure of the interviews
• Questions
• Do you think your department works well with the
  Council on Aging?
• This prompts the person to consider the idea that
  maybe they dont work well with the COA.
• Tell me about your departments relationship
  with the Council on Aging?
• This questions allows the person to tell you all
  of the information about the relationship with no
  implied bias

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Post-Assessment analysis

• Response rate
• Analysis Basics
• Qualitative
• Quantitative
• Triangulation

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Post-Assessment dissemination

• Dissemination of results
• Final report
• News article
• Fact sheet

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Research Partnerships

• Identify partners
• How can they help?
• Things to keep in mind
• Confirm the research entity as a credible
  organization.
• Determine how this research will support both
  your organization and the research institutions
  missions.
• Identify unique resources and agree upon which
  partners are responsible for providing which
  resources (e.g., financial, human capital,
  dissemination)
• Understand what is ethical and legal

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Helpful Hints

• Be clear about the PURPOSE of your assessment
• Have a detailed timeline and roadmap of the
  process
• Build in extra time
• Create awareness in the community
• Consider research partners
• Determine appropriate sources of data
• Stay realistic
• NEED versus WANT

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Available Resources

• Kreuger Casey (2009). Focus Groups A Practical
  Guide for Applied Research (4th ed.), Thousand
  Oaks, CA Sage Publications.
• Witkin, B. R., Altschuld, J. W., (1995).
  Planning and conducting needs assessments A
  practical guide. Newbury Park, CA Sage
  Publications

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Thank you!

• Jan Mutchler jan.mutchler_at_umb.edu Caitlin Coyle
  caitlin.coyle001_at_umb.edu
• Hayley Gravette, hayley.gravette001_at_umb.edu
• http//www.umb.edu/academics/mgs/gerontology/