The rapid pace of business today may preclude the often lengthy, time-consuming process of needs analysis. Rapid Needs Analysis provides its readers with a framework to conduct an analysis of a performance problem in a fast and efficient manner. Moreover, this book will help you decide if needs analysis is warranted in the first place, and if so, how to get it done quickly. You’ll learn how to analyze a request for a performance solution and how to identify a current situation through rapid methods, such as using technology. You will find the practical needs analysis process, methodologies, and tools helpful in most every situation that requires needs analysis. Case studies are also provided to illustrate each step in the needs analysis process along with examples of how other companies have been successful using the process.
This book provides a collection of ten protocols for conducting rapid health assessments in the immediate aftermath of different types of emergencies. Noting the vital importance of rapid and accurate information in the earliest stage of an emergency, the protocols respond to the urgent need for common standardized technical tools for assessing damage, gauging health risks, and gathering the information immediately needed by decision-makers at the national and international level. The protocols were prepared by WHO in collaboration with a large number of international agencies and experts with broad experience in the field of emergency management. Although all protocols follow a common format, each is specific to the circumstances, potential hazards, and immediate information needs that characterize a distinct type of emergency. Emphasis is placed on the exact information needed, the best sources of data and methods for rapid collection, and the specific questions that need to be answered in order to draw initial conclusions and direct immediate actions. Although the advantages of using experienced assessments teams are stressed, the book also explains how the protocols can be used to train general health workers as part of emergency preparedness. The book opens with an introductory protocol covering the aims and methods, responsibilities, complexities, and inherent difficulties of rapid health assessments. Addressed to health authorities as well as assessment teams, the chapter also includes abundant advice on preparedness for emergencies. Details range from the comparative need for speed in different types of emergencies, through a suggested format for presenting the results of assessments, to a list of common logistic, organizational, and technical errors. Advice on the best working practices, including ways to avoid being an "emergency tourist", is also provided. Against this background, the additional nine protocols are presented according to a common format which covers the purpose of the assessment, preparedness, the steps to follow during the assessment, assessing the impact on health, assessing local response capacity and immediate needs, and presenting results. A general protocol on epidemics of infectious origin is followed by protocols specific to meningitis outbreaks, outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fever, including yellow fever, and outbreaks of acute diarrhoeal disease, with information specific to dysentery and cholera. Sudden-impact natural disasters are covered in the next protocol, which includes a day-by-day list of information priorities for different stages of the disaster. A protocol dealing with sudden population displacements offers guidelines for conducting rapid health assessments in all emergencies caused by sudden displacement of refugees or population groups within a country. Included are a sample checklist for rapid assessments and a sample form for weekly reports on morbidity and mortality. Subsequent protocols deal with the special situations of nutritional emergencies and chemical emergencies, including those caused by food contaminated with chemicals or toxins. The final protocol addresses the difficult task of conducting assessments in complex emergencies in which the cause of the emergency, as well as the assistance to the afflicted, is complicated by intense levels of political considerations. The protocol includes a form which has recently been used for rapid health assessment at local level in Bosnia and Herzegovnia. The book concludes with a brief summary of survey techniques, followed by a tabular presentation of reference values for assessing needs, hazards, and logistic requirements in developing countries.
In today's rapidly changing world, new social and human service problems emerge constantly, and in order to make good use of resources that are often limited, social service agencies must ensure that their services are truly needed. Needs assessments provide a baseline against which later results can be compared, and may also assist policy-makers in recognizing new trends or problems on the horizon. With so much hinging on their outcome, these assessments must be conducted both accurately and efficiently, and this pocket guide will give practitioners the ability to do so. Written by a group of social work scholars with a collective wealth of experience in conducting needs assessments at all levels, this practical guide will walk readers step by step through the process of selecting the right design to confidently conducting the assessment, meticulously analyzing data, and finally writing a cogent report. In addition, the authors explore the various approaches that can be used to assess the needs of a client or population group and the differences between large- and small-scale assessments. Later chapters in the book include discussions of emerging technologies in the field as well as abundant social work case examples. Social work graduate students, as well as social workers in the field who need to brush up on their skills, will find this book an invaluable aid.
This pocket guide presents some tried and tested methods for putting impact measurement and accountability into practice throughout the life of a project. It is aimed at humanitarian practitioners, project officers and managers with some experience in the field, and draws on the work of field staff, NGOs, and inter-agency initiatives, including Sphere, ALNAP, HAP International, and People in Aid.
In 1995, Witkin and Altschuld proposed a three phase process model of needs assessment: - Preassessment (learning as much as possible from existing, inexpensive sources) - Assessment (collecting new information about the needs in consideration) - Postassessment (prioritizing needs, understanding their causes, and translating priorities into action plans for organizations). The model has been extensively re-conceptualized and forms the basis for this book. The content includes a user-oriented approach to a comprehensive overview of the three phases and the 14 key steps necessary to implement them. Numerous examples and practical illustrations are given throughout the text as guidance for needs assessors and those who do research on the topic. An extensive glossary of needs-related terms and an outline of a final report are also provided. The book is the first one in the Needs Assessment KIT with connections to the other four.
This thoroughly revised edition of the best-selling resource A Practical Guide to Needs Assessment offers a practical and comprehensive guide for practitioners who are responsible for Introducing a training program Creating adult education programs Assessing the development needs of a workforce Improving individual, group, organization or interorganizational performance in the workplace Implementing community, national, or international development interventions Designed as a resource for practitioners, this book is filled with how-to information, tips, and case studies. It shows how to use data-based needs assessments to frame people-related problems and performance, improvement opportunities to obtain support from those who are affected by the changes, make effective decision, and increase efficiency.
What assistance do disaster-affected communities need? This book guides humanitarian field staff in answering this vital question during the early days and weeks following a disaster, when timely and competent assessment is crucial for enabling informed decision making. Needs assessment is essential for program planning, monitoring and evaluation. In an emergency response, however, a quick and simple approach to needs assessment may be the only practical possibility--in other words, it needs to be "good enough". This guide does not explain every activity needed to carry out an assessment, but it describes the assessment process and provides a step-by-step guide through the process. It also contains a number of tools and resources that may be helpful when planning or carrying out humanitarian needs assessments. This guide is essential reading for field staff carrying out assessments after a humanitarian crisis; it should also be read by humanitarian policy makers, students, lecturers and researchers.
How to identify, analyse, and assess the various types of adult learning needs? How to develop programmes tailored to these needs? This study guide is written for postgraduate students preparing to become professional adult educators, as well as for those intending to plan educational programmes for adults. The book covers the various types of adult (learning)needs and provides hints on how to identify, analyse, and assess these needs. It presents typical challenges involved in performing such an analysis as well as theoretical considerations of the concept and types of needs, of diagnosing educational needs and their theoretical understanding. The author draws conclusions on how to develop programmes tailored to the needs identified. With a focus on practical concerns, she illustrates the necessary steps as well as the factors to be considered when designing an educational programme for adults, both in the planning stage and in the stages of implementation and evaluation. From the Contents: The Importance of Needs Analysis and Programme Planning in Adult Education Needs: Theoretical Considerations Fields of Needs Analysis in an Educational Context Methods of Needs Analysis in Adult Education Needs Analysis for Planning Educational Programmes Steps in Programme Planning in Adult Education
Making informed decisions is the essential beginning to any successful development project. Before the project even begins, you can use needs assessment approaches to guide your decisions. This book is filled with practical strategies that can help you define the desired results and select the most appropriate activities for achieving them.
This thoroughly revised edition of the best-selling book Conducting Needs Assessment offers a brief, how-to guide that demystifies the process of planning a community intervention by helping both students and practitioners understand how to plan and conduct a needs assessment. Coverage includes planning the needs assessment, including the variety of methods used, survey methods and sample sizes, data collection and analysis, and reporting the findings. To aid students' understanding, Soriano engages the students in the process of planning a community intervention by using clear, real-world examples and basic terms that have been updated to reflect current issues and HIPPA regulations.
