Needs assessment

Proper nutrition education and weight management

In this assignment, create a needs assessment outline that describes and documents the health status issue that your project will address and the target population it will serve. The purpose of the needs assessment is to help reviewers understand the community and/or organization (i.e., the population) that will be served by your proposed project.

The needs assessment document should describe the need for the project in the proposed locale and include baseline data on the prevalence and demographic characteristics of the targeted population as well as supporting racial/ethnic data. The document should provide a description of the prevalence of health indicators (e.g., overweight, obesity) in the proposed geographic area. It should describe the current availability of preventive health services that address the health issue in the targeted group. In addition, discuss any relevant barriers in the service area that your project hopes to overcome. You should also describe gaps in the current provision of services as well as gaps in knowledge and the capacity of health care providers and key public/private community agencies to adequately screen, routinely assess, effectively intervene, and/or coordinate their efforts within a comprehensive network of preventive health services.

Here is a suggested structure for your needs assessment outline. It should be between 3 and 5 pages in length.

 I.  Health Status

 a.  Introduce the health issue

 b.  How does the health issue affect the target population?

 II.  Community Description

 a.  Describe the setting, which might include national, state, local, or campus

information depending on the program scope

 III.  Needs Assessment

 a.  Qualitative assessment

 b.  Quantitative assessment

 IV.  Community Link

 a.  What is currently being offered to the specific population?

 b.  Will the proposed program be complementary, competing, or new to the area?