Needs assessment
11.8 Summary
Table 11.1 summarizes the main questions and steps for conducting a needs assessment.
Table 11.1 Main Questions and Steps for Needs Assessments
| Ex-Ante Needs Assessment | Ex-Post Needs Assessment | |
| Defining the context boundaries | How is the community defined? | How is the community defined? |
| Engagement | With whom should we engage? (set a plan and refine later)
What does relevancy mean? What are the groups’ expectations? Plan for communication activities. |
With whom should we engage? (set a plan and refine later)
What does relevancy mean? Identify criteria. What are the groups’ expectations? Plan for communication activities.
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| Pre-assessment: scoping out risks and problems
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What are future risks?
What important problems will the community be facing? What important problems the community will be facing? More specifically, what are socio-environmental risks (consider biodiversity, pollution, management of land and water, equity, health, prosperity)? What would contribute to building stronger communities? What are the gaps between what is (or what will be) and what should be? Who should be engaged further? How should results be communicated?
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Is the context always the same as when the intervention was implemented? If not, what has changed (think about the context itself but also of plausible alternatives to the intervention)?
What are future risks? What important problems will the community be facing? What important problems the community will be facing? What are socio-environmental risks (consider biodiversity, pollution, management of land and water, equity, health, prosperity)? What would contribute to building stronger communities? Who should be engaged further? How should results be communicated? |
| Identifying the problem and defining the objectives | Among the important problems identified, what are those that we can collectively act on?
What causes should be targeted? What specific objectives should the intervention aim to achieve? Do these choices hold when using planetary lenses (use rapid assessment tools for planetary health (Brousselle et al., 2024b)? If not, what are better alternatives? What should the target population be for the intervention? What partnerships would be relevant? |
Are the problems targeted still important problems?
Are the objectives of the intervention still the most desirable? If the socio- environmental impacts were not considered, analyze the intervention with a planetary health perspective (use rapid assessment tools for planetary health, (Brousselle et al., 2024b). Is the targeted population still the most pertinent? Are all partnerships relevant and all relevant partnerships in place? Do more desirable alternatives exist (consider impacts on planetary health among other criteria)?
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