Essay Sample on 3 Essential Points of Needs Assessment: Handwashing, Advocacy & Health Concerns

Introduction

Needs assessment enhances an understanding of critical health issues in a population and the resources available to address them. I have learned three essential points from experiences completing needs assessment with my group. First, I have understood that doing needs assessment serves as a starting point of identifying health concerns in a community and how to advocate for improvement. In our group study of children below five years, for instance, we found that parents should make handwashing fun as a way to improve hand hygiene. Secondly, I have noted that, when conducting a needs assessment, it is essential to select a method of collecting data that suits the population under study. Data, in this regard, can be obtained through questionnaires, surveys, interviews, and direct observations, among other techniques. Thirdly, I have learned that it is essential to ask more targeted questions about social needs for which an organization or an individual can design resources. In our group, where we studied childhood hand hygiene, for example, we concluded that the community should support educational and handwashing programs in child care centers. This approach is a way of utilizing resources available to make handwashing for children below five years a personal hygiene habit.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Literature Findings

The literature recognizes that the assessment of community needs is a critical function of public health. The term "needs assessment" from a public health perspective, according to Ahari, Habibzadeh, Yousefi, Amani, and Abdi (2012), refers to the process of collecting, analyzing and using data to gather resources, develop priorities, educate people and plan actions to enhance public health. Both individual and community need assessment are essential because it serves as the basis of identifying health problems. At a community level, in particular, needs assessment is critical for planning the provision of health services (Wright, Williams, & Wilkinson, 2011).

Needs assessment, according to Wright et al. (2011), serves three functions. First, it provides valuable information that enables the people concerned to prioritize people in greatest need of health services. Secondly, it is conducted to provide a basis for applying the principles of equity and social justice. Finally, needs assessment provides the decision makes with details that enhance the allocation of scarce resources to give maximum health benefits.

After reviewing the literature, I have noted that there are five steps that one should follow when doing need assessment. The first step is profiling, where an individual collects relevant information that describes the state of health in a population. Analysis of these details will enable one to identify major health concerns. In the second phase, an individual will decide on proprieties for action. In the third step, he/she will mobilize resources and also plan programs to address the issues identified. Also, the person will identify areas that require improvements. The fourth phase involves implementing the plans that one has strategized in the third step. Finally, an individual will evaluate health outcomes based on the needs identified.

A proper need assessment has three characteristics. First, it should describe the state of health in a population. Secondly, it identifies the major causes of ill health, and finally, it should include the actions needed to address health problems. After a critical evaluation of the literature, I have further noted that community health needs assessment and clinical health needs assessment have similarities, but they are not the same. Moreover, I have understood that health needs assessment also focuses on general well-being since health does not merely describe the absence of diseases.

Summary of Needs Assessment Analysis

My group conducted a need assessment of hand hygiene in kids (0 -5 years old). The study involved ten participants, of which six of them were females, while four were males, respectively (see figure 1). All of them were adults above 18 years, implying that they ought to have a proper understanding of handwashing, and also how it should be practiced. One male respondent and two female participants were above 40 years, respectively.

Figure 1: Proportion of male to female participants

Our assessment of health hygiene suggests that many people recognize the importance of teaching kids about handwashing at an early age. All the participants acknowledged that proper hand hygiene prevents the spread of diseases like influenza and the common cold. In our assessment, we noted that seven out of ten participants associated poor hand hygiene among kids below five years with gastrointestinal infections, and respiratory tract infections (RTI).

The group noted that women have a better understanding of hand hygiene behavior for children below five years than their male counterparts. Five out of six female respondents identified two primary levels of handwashing, namely, aseptic and routine hand hygiene. All male participants, in contrast, identified handwashing with liquid soap and warm water as the primary way of practicing hand hygiene. The results were not surprising because it reflects findings from the previous studies. Research by Suen, So, Yeung, Lo, and Lam, (2019), for example, indicated that females had a better knowledge of children's hand hygiene than males. Moreover, women differentiated illnesses that can and cannot be transmitted with inadequate hand hygiene (Suen et al., 2019).

After analyzing data of our needs assessment, we concluded that there is a need to teach the society how to make handwashing a habit and part of the fun rather than a distraction from children's favorite activities. Moreover, we identified this aspect as our main teaching topic because most participants in our assessment had a little understanding of how to make the practice enjoyable. Another critical need that we identified is the provision of handwashing facilities appropriate for children below five years.

References

Ahari, S. S., Habibzadeh, S., Yousefi, M., Amani, F., & Abdi, R. (2012). Community-Based Needs assessment in an Urban Area; A participatory Action Research Project. BMC Public Health, 12(1). doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-161

Suen, L. K. P., So, Z. Y. Y., Yeung, S. K. W., Lo, K. Y. K., & Lam, S. C. (2019). Epidemiological Investigation on Hand Hygiene Knowledge and Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study on Gender Disparity. BMC Public Health, 19(1). doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6705-5

Wright, J., Williams, R., & Wilkinson, J. R. (2011). Health Needs Assessment: Development and Importance of Health Needs Assessment. BMJ, 316(7140), 1310-1313. doi: 10.1136/bmj.316.7140.1310