Your community can be a pediatric, adolescence, young adults, adult, elderly or a combination.

 You must go out into your community to complete the windshield survey! This project cannot be completed by just doing online research. For the paper, make sure interviews are cited as personal communication. (My community location is Dallas, TX, make sure to note this). An example of the paper is attached.

Defining the Community

Your community can be a pediatric, adolescence, young adults, adult, elderly or a combination.

Clearly delineate the following dimensions before starting the process of community assessment:

• Describe the population that is being assessed?
• What is/are the race(s) of this population within the community?
• Are there boundaries of this group? If so, what are they?
• Does this community exist within a certain city or county?
• 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 is a community assessment being performed? What purpose will it serve?
• How will information for the community assessment be collected?

Assessment

After the community has been defined, the next phase is assessment. The following items describe several resources and methods that can be used to gather and generate data. These items serve as a starting point for data collection. This is not an all-inclusive list of resources and methods that may be used when a community assessment is conducted.

The time frame for completion of the assessment may influence which methods are used. Nonetheless, these items should be reviewed to determine what information will be useful to collect about the community that is being 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 (collecting information that already exists)

Demographics of the Community

• When demographic data are collected, it is useful to collect data from a variety of levels so comparisons can be made.
• If the population that is being assessed is located within a specific setting, it may be best to contact that agency to retrieve specific information about that population.
• 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
• State and County Quick Facts—Easy access to facts about people, business, and geography, based on U.S. Census data
• Obtain information about a specific city or county on these useful websites www.epodunk.com and www.city-data.com

Information from Government Agencies

• Healthy People 2020—this resource is published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It identifies health improvement goals and objectives for the country to be reached by the year 2020
• National Center for Health Statistics—this agency is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; this website provides statistical information about the health of Americans
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—The CDC website contains a large amount of information related to the health of the American population. The search engine within this website can be used to find relevant information
• Federal agencies with statistical programs
• Every state in the United States has its own specific health improvement plan and goals that are based on the Healthy People 2020 document. This information may be available on the state health department website.
• State and local health departments provide information related to vital statistics for the community.

Other Data Sources

• America’s Health Rankings—this website provides information about various health indicators for each state: https://www.americashealthrankings.org/
• Other relevant data sources may be found by conducting an Internet search related to the topic that is being examined through the community assessment.

After data are collected from various sources, it is important to review the information and to identify assets and areas for improvement in the community by comparing local data (if available) versus state and national data. This will facilitate organization of the information that has already been obtained and will provide direction for the next step of the process.

Data Generation (data are developed that do not already exist):

Windshield Surveys

With the use of public transportation or by driving a vehicle around the community, one can observe common characteristics of the community.

Examples of key observations to make when one is assessing the community through a windshield survey include the following:

• Age of the homes in the community
• Location of parks and other recreational areas
• Amount of space between homes and businesses
• Neighborhood hangouts
• Transportation in the community
• Quality and safety of streets and sidewalks
• Stores and other businesses
• People out in the community
• Cleanliness of the community
• Billboards or other media displays
• Places of worship
• Healthcare facilities

Participant Observation

Spend time observing the population that is being assessed. Through observation of interactions among group members, much can be learned about the community, including the following:

• Developmental level of the population
• Effectiveness of peer-to-peer interactions
• Respect for peers and others
• Safety in the environment
• Economic status

Informant Interviews

Informants could be people who are familiar with and interact with the population on a regular basis.

Examples of questions that may be asked of key informants include the following:

• Strengths/assets of the community
• Areas of improvement for the community
• Concerns of community members
• Access to health care
• Emergency plans for natural or man-made disasters

Focus Groups

Focus groups (usually small groups of 6-12 people) can be helpful when one is gathering information about specific areas of concern within the population. Use of a focus group involves open dialogue about the population, whereas an interview or survey yields only individual responses.

• Focus groups may be effective for assessing the following:
• Satisfaction with services provided
• Community resources used
• Transportation issues within the community
• Safety within the community
• General concerns of members of the population

Surveys

Surveys may be used to collect data from the community. Selecting a sample of the target population may prove helpful in the collection of data that are easier to analyze. It is important to ensure that the sample is representative of the target population.

A survey should be developed that takes into consideration the developmental level of the group that is being assessed. Questions should be written at the appropriate developmental level, so they are answered in a way that makes the data useful. Surveys might include closed-ended (yes/no), multiple choice (several responses to choose from), Likert scale (Strongly Agree/Agree/Neutral/Disagree/Strongly Disagree), or open-ended (“why”/“how”) questions.

Topics that may be addressed in a survey include the following:

• Demographic information
• Status of employment
• Safety within community
• Safety in environment
• Personal safety (seatbelts, helmets, etc.)
• Stressors/stress management patterns
• Risky behaviors
• Support systems
• Volunteer/community activities
• Rest patterns
• Nutrition
• Dental hygiene
• Health promotion activities

Level 1 headings are centered and bold. Level 2 headings are bold and at the left margin. The community location is Dallas, Texas (diverse community).

Running head: COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT 1

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT 5

Community Assessment

Your Name

N492: Community Health Nursing

Aspen University

Professor Gardner

Date

Community Assessment

Introduction paragraph should include: name of community being assessed (County and state or city and state), information about data gathered vs. data generated, why would a community assessment be completed?

Defining the Community

For this section keep the community focused on the whole city or county and discuss the following questions:

· Describe the population that is being assessed?

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

· Are there boundaries of this group? If so, what are they? (boundaries should be physical boundaries if there are any: ocean, mountain, river, etc.)

· Does this community exist within a certain city or county?

· Are there general characteristics that separate this group from others? (Discuss general characteristics of the population)

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

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

Assessment

In this paragraph discuss:

· Why is a community assessment being performed? What purpose will it serve?

· How will information for the community assessment be collected?

Data Gathered

This is the section that you will discuss data gathered though internet research. For example go to County Health Rankings and look for Whitley County, IN. In reviewing the data, you are looking at areas in which this county is ranked below the top performers and the state of Indiana. If your county is a relatively health county for the state, look at where you county ranks compared to top performers. For Whitley County the areas of concern are: Smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, access to exercise opportunities, alcohol impaired deaths, STDs, Teen births, Access to healthcare providers (physicians, dentist and mental health), and Flu vaccinations,

Now I have a list and need to think which ones could possible go together and discuss the top 2 health concerns. I could like Obesity, physical inactivity, and access to exercise opportunities together. Access to healthcare could be considered more of a determent of health so I will remove that concern for the moment. Then I could look at other websites to see what other topic is the biggest concern for my county: alcohol, smoking, STDs, teen births, or vaccinations.

When I go to American Health Rankings, I notice that smoking and immunizations are listed as a concern. Finally, I looked up what Indiana has listed as their HP2020 goals and smoking was on the list.

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/healthy-people-in-action/State-and-Territorial-Healthy-People-Plans

So my 2 health concerns based on the data gathered are obesity and smoking. For this section of the paper I will have at least 1 paragraphs discussing the data gathered for each of the concerns.

Data Generated

For this section, based on your two health concerns complete observations, interviews, focus groups, surverys, etc. to find out how prevalent the problem is, is the problem truly a problem, does the community view this as a problem, etc. Three different techniques should be utilized and discussed in this section.

Health People 2020 Goals and Objectives

For this section state the HP2020 goals and objectives that align with the identified health concerns.

Conclusion

Conclusion paragraph should recap the paper and not provide new information.

Rubric components:

Defining the Community Weight: 20% (100 points)

· Expertly defines the geographic area of the community. May include a map in the appendix. Defines cultural context of the population. Specifies population demographics, including age, race, education, birth/death rates, life expectancy, insurance status, and other pertinent details. Connects community context and demographics with Healthy People 2020 objectives and identifies health concerns (will be at the end of the paper).

Data Gathering Weight: 30% (150 points)

· Demonstrates expert ability to gather data from at least three government websites.  Other scholarly data sources used to provide depth to the assessment. Gathered data presented in a logical and meaningful manner.  Clear connections drawn between data gathered and health issues.

Data Generation Weight: 30% (150 points)

· Data generated using at least three techniques. Multiple layers of the community context revealed through data generated.  Demonstrates quality and depth of observation skills, identifying many cultural and contextual observations that impact health. In-depth comparison made to gathered data.  Clear connections to health issues.

Quality of Written Communication Weight: 10% (50 points)

· Style and voice are not only appropriate to the given audience and purpose, but also show originality and creativity. Word choice is specific, purposeful, dynamic and varied. Free of mechanical and typographical errors. A variety of sentence structures and effective figures of speech are used. Writer is clearly in command of standard, written, academic English.

APA Format Weight: 10% (50 points)

· A broad understanding of APA format and style is evident. Accurate citations and references are presented. No APA errors are evident.  In-depth and meticulous process of writing and organizing assignment.