A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with a commonality such as place, norms, religion,

values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical
area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighborhood) or in virtual space through communication
platforms. Durable good relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties also define a sense of
community, important to their identity, practice, and roles in social institutions such as family, home,
work, government, society, or humanity at large.[1] Although communities are usually small relative to
personal social ties, "community" may also refer to large group affiliations such as national communities,
international communities, and virtual communities.[2]

What is a “Community?” Communities are typically defined by a geographic area; however, they can
also be based on shared interests or characteristics such as religion, race, age, or occupation. People
within a community come from different backgrounds and have unique cultures, customs, and values.
Utilizing this wide range of ideas and wisdom is critical to assessing the community needs and
strategizing areas for improvement. Before you conduct a community needs assessment you should
have a clear understanding of the different cultural groups within a community and how to best work
with them to solve the community issues.

Community may be defined by geography, or by an attribute within a geographically defined

community, such as faith, race/ethnicity, school, profession or culture. Community exists when a group
of people is aware of its identity as a group.

Community assessment is a comprehensive process to identify the strengths, resources, assets, and
needs of a defined community that will lead to action to address an issue.

Community assessment is a way to gather information about community health issues, local context,
and community preferences and actions.

A comprehensive community assessment has seven phases:

1) establish a community team,

2) determine the purpose,

3) plan the community assessment,

4) conduct the community assessment,

5) report results and recommendations,

6) evaluate the community assessment process, and

7) community action.

The process is flexible to meet the needs of the community.

Community assessment requires community engagement and community member involvement in the
decisions that affect them. A participatory approach is used to increase sustainability and ensure action.
5. Methods used to collect information about the community will depend on the needs of the
community, the purpose and resources available.

Data collection methods may include surveys, interviews, focus groups, community forums and
observation.

Community Needs Assessment Steps

1. Define Your Community

2. Identify Your Assets
3. Collect Community Data
4. Compile a Community Needs Assessment Report
5. Create an Action Plan

Community assessment is the process of identifying the strengths, assets, needs and challenges
of a specified community. Assets refer to the skills, talents and abilities of individuals as well as
the resources that local institutions contribute to the community. Local institutions may include
political, religious, educational, recreational and youth organizations; community, civic and
service groups; local businesses; nonprofit organizations and volunteer groups.

A community assessment involves (1) an evaluation of the current situation in a community, (2)
a judgment of what the preferred or desired situation in that community would be, and (3) a
comparison of the actual and desired situation for the purpose of prioritizing concerns. A
community assessment is usually performed early in the development of a coalition to better
understand the community and decide how the coalition might best address its concerns
(Butterfoss, 2007).

Community assessment is sometimes referred to as needs assessment, but there is an important

distinction between the two. In a needs assessment, the focus is limited to discrepancies between
what is and what should be in a given community. This type of assessment forces a community
to focus on its deficiencies and ignore what it is doing well (Kretzmann and McKnight, 1993). In
contrast, a community assessment seeks to empower community members by allowing them to
take ownership in affecting the health of their community instead of providing them with a
prescription of what their community needs.
Key Principles of Community Assessment

 Residents are the best experts on the community in which they live.
 All residents have skills, abilities and talents that they can contribute to the community.
 A strong community is built upon the talents and resources of its members.

The Purpose of a Community Assessment

A community assessment can be useful in mobilizing a community to action as it identifies and

matches the skills of community members with the resources of organizations. A community
assessment can also be used to do the following:

 Create a coalition action plan

 Establish objectives for a program or intervention
 Select the strategies to use in a program or intervention
 Establish a baseline for evaluating progress in the community
 Identify new ideas, strategies, partners and resources that can be used in working toward
a common goal

Conducting a Community Assessment

The process of conducting a community assessment can be divided into three phases: pre-
assessment, assessment and post-assessment. Questions to consider during the pre-assessment
phase include the following:

 What is going to be assessed?

 What is already known?
 What data will need to be collected?
 How and by whom will data be collected?
 How and by whom will data be analyzed?

A community assessment begins with the community. During the pre-assessment phase, the
coalition can also identify community partners, ask them to self-assess their resources and ask
them to identify the health issues that they believe are most important to address (Butterfoss,
2007).

Once these questions have been answered, the coalition can proceed through the following steps
to conduct their assessment. Technical assistance with the following steps is often available from
local Extension offices, local health departments and other local non-profit organizations.

1. Determine the purpose and scope of the assessment.

a. Decide whether the assessment will focus on a specific population within the community
versus the community at large.
b. Decide which health topics to prioritize, limiting the scope of the assessment to what can
reasonably be accomplished.
2. Define the goals and objectives of the assessment.

3. Select data collection methods to use.

a. Find out whether the desired information exists or if a new data collection effort is
needed.
b. Common methods for new data collection include surveys, interviews, focus groups and
observation.

4. Select or design the necessary instruments and procedures for data collection.

a. Look for valid and reliable instruments that have been tested in similar communities with
similar populations. It is much easier and less costly to adapt an existing instrument than
to create one from scratch.

5. Pilot test the instruments and procedures.

6. Prepare a timeline and budget.

7. Collect the data.

8. Analyze the data.

9. Prepare and disseminate a report of the findings.

10. Evaluate the assessment's merit and worth.

a. Consider what worked well, what problems were encountered and what could have been
done better.

Tips for Effectively Reporting a Community Assessment

 Prepare multiple reports using a variety of media.

 Include an executive summary.
 Keep a logical sequence in mind, using language that is easily understandable.
 Highlight the information that community members perceive as most important.
 Explain why the needs assessment was completed, what is now known that was not
known before and how the new information will help address discrepancies in the
community.
 Acknowledge limitations and alternative explanations for the findings.
 Keep the information relevant, practical, credible and understandable.