Assessment

Assessment

Assessment is the process of gathering data to learn more about a community, a group of communities, or issues within communities and form informed plans of action.  It is important for many different coalitions to engage in assessment in order to understand potential problems and leverage resources for dealing with those problem.  Assessment should be an ongoing process to determine changing needs in the community.

The SCHC conducts community health assessments for many different types of coalitions and organizations. A recent example of a community health assessment conducted by the SCHC may be found on the Greater Brockton Community Health Network Area (CHNA) website.

Check out our new report: Community Health Assessment in Massachusetts:Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities to learn about techniques, tips, tools and challenges to conducting local community health assessments.

For more information about our assessment services, please contact Stephanie Patton, Program Director, at spatton@healthimperatives.org or 508.583.2350 ext. 237.

Resources for assessment available from our library include:

• Blumenthal DS, DiClemente RJ (2004). Community-based health research: Issues and methods. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.

• Graves RM, Fowler FJ, Couper MP et al (2009). Survey methodology, second edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

• Harkness JA, Van de Vijver FJR, Mohler PP. (2003). Cross-cultural survey methods. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Online resources for learning more about assessment:

The Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) Clearinghouse at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) provides guidance and visioning tools for several different approaches to community health assessments.

The “Healthy Carolinians” project at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has a step-by step assessment guidebook.

CADCA has an assessment primer available on its website. 

The Kansas University Community Tool Box has a comprehensive guide for the assessment process.

Examples of community health assessments in several different geographical areas include:

• The Greater Lowell Health Alliance (CHNA 10) 

• Chaffee County Community Health Assessment, Colorado 

• City of Milwaukee Community Health Assessment 

An excellent data resource for community health assessments in Massachusetts is the Massachusetts Community Information Profile (MassCHIP) database.