COMMUNITY

NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
 Learning Objectives:

• Understand the concept of community

• Understand the meaning of community needs
assessment
• Apply the purpose of a community needs
assessment in building a community program.
• Familiar the process of conducting needs
assessment
 Knowing the Community
• Villasoto (2022) group of people with
common interests living together in the same
place.
• Manalili (2009) refers to an organization of
people who can undertake projects based on
its member’s experiences, resiliency,
motivation and willingness to learn.
 Knowing the Community
• In archaeology Community is understood as:
• A place where people physically reside in, which in idea
similar to the concept of ancient settlements
• Group o f individuals who live near and interact with
each other.
• Bunagan, Acibo, et al (2009) Active community is
an organization of people who strategize,
conceptualize, implement, and evaluate a program.
 Knowing the Community
• In the Bible, community encompasses all of
God’s creation in the universe, including man
and woman whom He created.
The first framework established in
understanding the essence of a
community concentrates on the
relationship of the Lord with His
creation.
 Sociological Concept of a Community

• The Family is the smallest unit of a

society.
• composed of immediate and non-immediate members
• While community is composed of
different families who live in the same
place and share the same interests.
 Sociological Concept of a Community

• The central qualities of a family are also the

basic building blocks of any community.

It believed that stronger

families help develop a
stronger communities.
 Aesthetic and Moral Values of a
Community
• Community members hold certain values .
• As community develops, its values change.
• Aristotle – Community as a group established by
people with shared values.
• People can belong to different types of communities
Communities of place – linked in the geographical sense
Communities of memory – technically strangers share a
morally significant history
Communities of face-to-face personal interaction –
people are governed by sentiments, cooperation and
altruism
What is Community Needs Assessment?
A process in which the problems,
issues and concerns of a community
are identified through the use of
several tools to determine the needs
of the individuals or a group of
individuals in order to design a
program that will respond effectively
to the needs and bring about desired
changes in behavior.
 AI definition
What is a Community Needs Assessment?
A community needs assessment is a systematic
process for identifying and addressing the needs,
problems, and resources within a specific
community. Rather than assuming what a
community needs, this approach ensures that
your service efforts address actual priorities as
defined by community members themselves.
Why is it Important for NSTP Students?

As NSTP students, your goal is to create

meaningful change through civic engagement. A
proper needs assessment:
• Ensures your projects address genuine
community priorities
• Maximizes limited resources and time
• Builds trust with community members
• Creates sustainable solutions
• Helps measure actual impact
 Community Needs Assessment
• Itreflects the sentiments, needs, aspirations and
recommendations of the community.
• It is a prelude to effective program implementation.
• It helps resolve the problems, issues and concerns of
the people in the locality.
• It encourages the participation of the community, as
they are stakeholders to the findings in the
assessment.
Determining the Areas of Improvement

1. Gather information about citizens’ attitudes and

options in order of importance.
2. Determine how citizens rank issues, problems and
opportunities in order of importance or urgency.
3. Give citizens a voice in determining policies goals
and priorities.
4. Evaluate current program and policies.
5. Speculate on what the people are thinking and
what they really want.
 Steps in Conducting CNA
1.Establish a working committee to solicit citizen
and community involvement and develop a
plan of action.
2.List important aspects that are needed to be
looked upon.
3.Identify the population to be surveyed.
4.Determine the information that is needed.
5.Select a random sample of person to survey
Steps in Conducting CNA
6. Develop and pretest questionnaire
7. Collate the information
8. Analyze the data
9. Go back to the community for
validation of information
10.Finalize the document
 Data Gathering Methods for
Community Needs Assessment
1.Focused Group Discussion (FGD)
with Key informants.
2.Community Forum Assembly
3.Public records/Community
Mapping
4.Survey & Questionnaires
5.Direct Observation
Information to be included in
Needs Assessment Survey
1.Historical Data
2.Geographical and Transportatio
Information
3.Political and Legal Functions
4.Demographic data
5.Economic data
 Roles of a Community in a Needs
Assessment
• Help identify groups and citizens who can be a part
of working committees
• Facilitate a group discussion to determine important
issues and priorities
• Select the sample to be surveyed, a design a system
to identify the respondents
• Provide a pool of questions from which the working
committees will draw upon addressing issues and
concerns.
 Roles of a Community in a Needs
Assessment
• Design a way of distributing and collecting
survey questionnaires and encoding and
analyzing the resulting data
• Provide summary report so f data
• Suggests program whereby results can be
reported and strategies on community
involvement can be solicited
• Work with citizens to come up with well-
informed courses of action
 Common Pitfalls to Avoid
• Imposing Outside Solutions: Assuming you know
what's best without community input
• Raising False Expectations: Promising more than
you can deliver
• Cultural Insensitivity: Failing to respect local
customs and norms
• Inadequate Sampling: Hearing only from the most
accessible or vocal community members
• Data Collection Without Action: Gathering
information but not using it
 Final Thoughts

Remember that communities are experts

on their own lives and challenges. Your
role is to listen, learn, and collaborate
rather than to "fix" or "help" from a
position of superiority. A thoughtful needs
assessment demonstrates respect and
ensures that your NSTP service creates
genuine, lasting value.
 Thank
you
for your
commitmen
t to
meaningful
 Summing up

A community needs assessment

identifies the strengths and
resources available in the
community to meet the needs of
children, the your, and families.
 Summing up

A community assessment is a systematic

examination of the community status
indicators of a given population that are
used to identify key problems and assets
in a community
ACTIVITY

1. What is community needs assessment? Why is it important in

formulating NSTP projects?
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2. What are the information to be included in assessing community
needs?
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3. How are data collected for meaningful results of community needs
assessment?
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