Defining the Community

When completing the community assessment final paper, ensure that your community is within a specifically designated geographic location.

One must clearly delineate the following dimensions before starting the process of community assessment: Firstly, 

Describe the assessed population

What is the race(s) of this population within the community?

Identify the boundaries of this group?

Does this community exist within a certain city or county?

Furthermore, are there general characteristics that separate this group from others?

Education levels, birth/death rates, age of deaths, insured/uninsured?

Where is this group located geographically…? Urban/rural?

Why perform a community assessment? What purpose will it serve?

Lastly, how will information for the community assessment be collected?

Assessment

Secondly, after the community is defined, the next phase is community assessment. The following items describe several resources and methods that are used to gather and generate data. Items serve as a starting point for data collection. It is not an all-inclusive list of resources and methods used when a community assessment is conducted.

Moreover, the time frame for completion of the community assessment paper may influence which method is used. Nonetheless, these items are reviewed to determine what information will help collect about the community assessed. It is not necessary to use all of these resources and methods; however, use of a variety of methods is helpful when one is exploring the needs of a community.

Data Gathering 

Demographics of the Community in the community assessment

Thirdly, collect demographic data from various levels and compare.

The following resources provide a broad overview of the demographics of a city, county, or state:

American Fact Finder—Find population, housing, and economic and geographic data for your city based on U.S. Census data: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml

State and County Quick Facts—Easy access to facts about people, business, and geography, based on U.S. Census data: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216

Additionally, obtain information about a specific city or county on these valuable websites:

www.epodunk.com and www.city-data.com

Moreover, the Information from Government Agencies include:

 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It identifies health improvement goals and objectives for the country reach by the year 2020: http://www.healthypeople.gov/

 National Center for Health Statistics—the agency is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; this website provides statistical information about the health of Americans: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—The CDC website contains a large amount of information related to the American population’s health. This search engine within this website helps find relevant information: http://www.cdc.gov

 Federal agencies with statistical programs: http://www.fedstats.gov/agencies

Additionally, every state in the United States has its own specific health improvement plan and goals based on the Healthy People 2020 document. That information is available on the state health department website.

Finally, State and local health departments provide information related to vital statistics for the community assessment.

Attached Files

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