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Learning Objective:
1. Understand basic reasons for performing needs assessments.
2. Identify important facets and pitfalls of performing large-scale needs assessments.
3. Recognize clues and cues to program development based on needs assessment responses.
Background:
In an era of tightening budgets, providing tailored educational services is of the utmost importance to avoid unnecessary over-use of funds. Regional, site-specific, and individual needs are best met when programs are designed based upon recent data regarding those locations and practitioners. Health-promotion organizations routinely perform needs assessments to identify content and format preferences for training. In addition, demographic information gathered by these tools may give an indication of more widespread trends and concerns in the clinical community.
Setting:
Various clinical and educational sites across the state of Virginia.
Population e.g. API Youth, MSM, IDU:
Clinical care providers who see patients infected with or at risk of infection with hepatitis C virus.
Project Description:
VHETC distributed a needs assessment tool by paper mailing to practitioners throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. While some of those providers had existing relationships with the Inova Juniper Program's AIDS Education and Training Center, most were attained through purchased mailing lists. The collection of the returned materials guided the development of HCV-related programs, information dissemination, and marketing.
Results/Lessons Learned:
A flexible analysis plan in examining the results of needs assessment data is critical. Inevitably many individuals will read questions differently and respond accordingly. While an analysis plan and research questions must guide the development of the tool, the analysis design must be able to accommodate differing modes of response. Interesting trends may reveal unexpected information and guide future needs assessment design.
See more of Poster Session #1
See more of The 2005 National Viral Hepatitis Prevention Conference