NursingLevel: Intermediate

How to Carry Out a Community Health Needs Assessment

Prepared by the Assignment Achievers public health nursing team.

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Problem Statement / Assignment Scope

An inner-city district has high rates of childhood asthma admissions and many families who struggle to afford food. Carry out a community health needs assessment and write a community nursing diagnosis.

Prerequisites: Public health nursing, basic epidemiology, and the social determinants of health.

Step-by-Step Worked Solution

1. Choosing a framework

The Community as Partner model guides you to look at the people, the physical environment and the services together. National targets, such as Healthy People 2030 in the US or your own country's public health priorities, help you judge how the area compares.

2. Gathering the evidence

Windshield survey: walk or drive through the district and note housing condition, traffic and air quality, where people can buy fresh food, and parks and play areas.
Existing data: use health department figures on asthma admissions, deprivation indices and school absence rates.
Local voices: talk to residents, school nurses and community groups about what they see as the main problems.

3. Community nursing diagnosis

Risk of respiratory illness among children in the district, related to exposure to air pollution and damp housing and limited access to primary care, as shown by asthma admission rates above the regional average.

Key Takeaways & Core Principles

Social and environmental factors, such as housing, income and food access, shape health as much as health care does.
Combine what you observe with published data and what residents tell you.
Involve local people from the start so the solutions fit the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a windshield survey?

A structured look at a neighbourhood, done on foot or by car, recording the physical environment, housing, services and who lives there. It gives you a first picture that you then test against data and conversations.

Academic References & Standards

[1]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Community Health Assessment Framework. Source Link

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