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Question: Discuss about the Community Needs Assessment. Answer: Introduction Community assessment and community needs assessment are fundamental public health functions. Community assessment is the process of identifying important health needs and issues through organized, comprehensive data collection and analysis. Its main objective is to enhance a knowledgeable comprehension of the gaps that exist within a population and their effect on community members. Community needs assessment is incorporation of data assembling, community participation and focused activity with the goal of satisfying the demands of the people. For a needs assessment to be effective, the difference between the present and desired condition should be studied (Stanhope Lancaster, 2015).This essay covers the health needs of the Roma community cited from census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the community, Queensland and the nation. It also describes the purpose and procedures for undertaking both the assessments. Presentation of Tables The ABS census data indicates the population of the Roma people, age and their marital status, level of education, religious affiliation, and country of birth, employment, dwellings, family composition and household composition. This information will be used in the essay to determine the needs of the Roma people. The inferences summarizes and interprets the age, level of education and Household composition of the people to the national average. Table 1: ABS census data Community Roma State Queensland Country Australia Characteristic N % % % People Males Females ATSI 3408 3442 571 49.8 50.2 8.3 49.4 50.6 4.0 49.3 50.7 2.8 Age 0-14 years 65 years 1,526 813 22.3 11.9 19.4 15.2 18.7 15.8 Marital status Married Separated Divorced Widowed Never married 2422 179 428 279 2012 45.5 3.4 8.0 5.2 37.8 46.9 3.6 9.3 4.9 35.4 48.1 3.2 8.5 5.2 35.0 Level of highest educational attainment Bachelor degree level and above Advanced diploma in diploma level Certificate level IV Certificate level III Year 12 Year 11 Year 10 Certificate level II Certificate level I Year 9 or below No education attainment Not stated 714 383 188 898 708 218 806 3 0 443 23 831 13.4 7.2 3.5 16.9 13.3 4.1 15.2 0.1 0.0 8.3 0.4 15.6 18.3 8.7 3.0 15.2 16.5 4.3 12.9 0.1 0.0 7.3 0.4 10.8 22.0 8.9 2.9 12.8 15.7 4.9 10.8 0.1 0.0 8.0 0.8 10.4 Country of birth (COB) Australia Other top 3 COB categories 5347 343 78.2 5.1 71.1 8.9 66.7 7.1 Religious affiliation Top 3 religious affiliations Catholic Anglican No religion 1870 1489 1260 27.3 21.8 18.4 21.7 15.3 29.2 22.6 13.3 29.6 Employment Worked full-time Worked part-time Away from work Unemployed 2370 805 196 134 67.4 22.9 5.6 4.1 57.7 29.9 4.8 7.6 57.7 30.4 5.0 6.9 Family composition Couple family without children Couple family with children One parent family Other family 642 726 247 15 39.4 44.5 15.2 0.9 39.4 42.5 16.5 1.6 37.8 44.7 15.8 1.7 Dwellings Occupied private dwellings Unoccupied private dwellings 2384 589 80.2 19.6 89.4 10.6 88.8 11.2 People characteristics Male Female 276 300 47.9 52.1 49.4 50.6 49.6 50.4 Household composition Family households Single or lone person households Group households 1600 690 87 66.3 29.0 3.7 71.8 23.5 4.7 71.3 24.4 4.3 Table 2: Inferences generated from community data Category of data Summary statement/measures Inference Age The ages between 0-14 make up 22.3% of the population while more than 65 makes up 11.9% of Roma. The proportion of ages 0-14 is higher than the state and the national average while above 65 is far lower than the state and national average. Level of highest educational attainment Bachelors degree level and above The average for Roma is 13.4 compared to State average of 18.3 and a national average of 22.0. Roma has a lower level of attainment of bachelors degree level and above than the state and national averages. Household Composition Roma has an average for family households of 66.3%, single households of 29.0% and group households of 3.7%. Roma has a lower proportion of people living in family households compared to the state and national levels but has higher single household rates than the higher levels. Note: Data retrieved from Australian Bureau of Statistics, https://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC32487 Community assessment Community assessment is essential in mobilizing people to action as it distinguishes and matches the skills of community members. This type of evaluation urges members of the community to pay attention to their weaknesses and disregard their strengths. It helps in understanding the dynamics of a community which then aids in making decisions about the critical issues to undertake. It also discloses the strengths and circumstances for growth. It is undertaken to determine the purpose of a program or intervention, to deduce new plans and procedures that can be used to contemplate on a set of objectives, to choose approaches to use in an intervention and to establish a framework for assessing development in the community, (Mitzlaff, Atzmueller, Hotho Stumme, 2011). Factors that impact the health of a population includes the degree of health equity that is the ability of people to attain the highest level of health, the community environment which includes the physical and social environment affects health, access to important information concerning health and access to health care, (Mann, 2011). A gap should exist in a community before undertaking an assessment. Identifying the gaps in this factors is key to conducting a successful assessment. Community assessment should be complete in three phases which include: pre-assessment where one decides on the people to access, the type of data to collect, methods of data collection and the procedure to use in analyzing information. In this phase, community partners are identified and requested to self-assess their resources and the health issues that they consider more vital to address. The second stage is assessment which involves determining the jurisdiction and intentions of the analysis, choosing data collection methods which may include interviews, focus groups and questionnaires. The third section is pilot testing the instruments and procedures and collecting data. Post-assessment activities entail preparing and publishing the results and investigating the quality of the assessment while taking into account the problems experienced during the activity, (Clark, 2015) Description of the community The Roma people mainly live in Europe especially Central, Eastern and Southern. According to ABS 2016 census there were 6,848 people in Roma (State Suburbs) 49.8% were male while 50.2% were females. Children between 0-14 years constituted 22.3% of the residents while people aged 65 years and over made up 11.9% of the residents. 32.7% were attending an educational institution, 24.6 were in primary school and 18.3% in secondary school and 12.5% in higher institutions of learning. The most common religion was Christianity with an overall of (76.0%). The level of education attainment was low with 13.3% of the people reported year 12 as their highest level of educational attainment, 20.4% with certificate III or IV and 7.2% with Advanced Diploma or Diploma. The number of married people was higher than that of single-parent families. 3515 of the people employed largely comprises of technicians and professionals (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Analysis of data and understanding of the community profile The social determinants of health that seem to negatively influence the community to include a low level of education, Poor housing and low-income levels. Findings on the ABS census data indicates that most of the people are not well educated which is evident from the percentage of people who are learned. Acquiring education plays a crucial role in increasing one's ability to make an important decision concerning his or her health. Attending institution of higher learning is associated with improved health since educated people are very knowledgeable about health and the practices that improve their health, (McKenzie, Neiger Thackeray, 2016). ABS census data reveals that the Roma community has a poor housing which negatively impacts on their health. Poor housing is connected to poor health and is capable of aggravating existing health conditions. A healthy home should have a good structure which is free of hazards and it should also provide enough facilities for sleeping and personal hygiene, (Arku, Luginaah, Mkandawire, Baiden Asiedu; Friedman, 2010). The community has low income levels where the median personal income for people over 15 years is $818. Income is a major factor in accessing health care. People with less incomes have less resources to use in visiting a doctor and buying medications. The ability to get health services increases with income level. The Roma community do not have high level of good health due to their economic status. Low income also results in the consumption of low quality food and poor diet which affects the health of a person. Bergitka Roma, a subgroup of the Roma is vulnerable due to unmet health issues like lack of adequate housing, poor economic status and lack of adequate food which are a major concern that deteriorates their health (McKenzie, Pinger Kotecki, 2011) Community needs assessment Community needs assessment investigates the resources and strengths present in the community to fulfill the needs of the society. It pays attention to the potential of the population. A simple way to determine the needs of a community includes interrogating residents about their contentment with services and the specific amenities that they require. Their judgments are essential in the construction of a program that focuses on community change. The basis for conducting this evaluation include learning about the needs of a specific group.To acquire a sincere and non-discriminatory account of the needs of people.To be informed of the needs that one did not know about, to document the needs and to ensure the actions taken are in line with the needs communicated by the community, (Gupta, 2011). The methods for needs assessment are in phases which include the planning and organizing part where one determines the current motive of the evaluation. The data collection stage where one finds out the types of data followed by utilizing and drafting a survey instrument, summarizing and disseminating the needs by collecting and analyzing data and conveying the findings and sharing the outcomes through public forums to ensure proper planning (Laymon, Shah, Leep, Elligers, Kumar, 2015). The components of needs assessment include; policy change, system change and environmental change. Policy change involves laws and regulations that intend to direct and impact the way of life of people. System change involves altering all community elements such as policies which help in dealing with liability issues that are of critical significance. The environmental change applies to the factors devised to control peoples practices and behavior. They include physical factors which comprise of the availability of healthy food options in restaurants and cafeterias and advancements in the built environment, social factors encompass changing in behavior about approaches that improve health and economic factors cover the financial incentives that aim at motivating the desired behavior, (Stamler, Yiu Dosani, 2016) The first step of planning on how to engage with Bergtika subgroup includes identifying and bringing together a diverse community team. Followed by developing a team strategy and defining the community to access. The fourth course of action involves identifying community sectors to access then developing questions to ask for each component and how the responses will be measured The final steps entail selecting the areas to visit within each locality, determining how to collect data and identifying key in formats to contact, (Minkler, 2012) Conclusion Education, housing and health are some of the important community needs, (Nutbeam, Harris Wise, 2010). Roma people have various needs for example by low education levels with only a third of its population in education institutions, low income levels with $818 as the average income for people above 15 years and poor housing which greatly affect their health. Community assessment and community needs assessment are tools utilized to explore this needs. They play a key role in starting an improvement process by identifying the key characteristics of the population, a process critical in understanding the needs of the people. The information from the ABS 2016 census identifies the unfulfilled needs of the Roma community which will help authorities to plan and mobilize resources to improve on the specific areas of need with an end goal of improving the health and sustainability of the community. A healthy nation is a fruitful nation therefore the healthier the community the more producti ve and less dependent it becomes. References Arku, G., Luginaah, I., Mkandawire, P., Baiden, P., Asiedu, A. B. (2011). Housing and health in three contrasting neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana.Social Science Medicine,72(11), 1864-1872. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017, October 23). 2016 Census Quick Stats. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC32487 Clark, M. J. (2015). Community health nursing. Prentice Hall. Friedman, D. (2010). The social impact of poor housing.London: Ecotec, 597-606. Gupta, K. (2011).A practical guide to needs assessment. John Wiley Sons. Laymon, B., Shah, G., Leep, C. J., Elligers, J. J., Kumar, V. (2015). The proof's in the partnerships: Are affordable care act and local health department accreditation practices influencing collaborative partnerships in community health assessment and improvement planning?.Journal of Public Health Management and Practice,21(1), 12-17. Mann, J. (2011). Health and human rights.American journal of public health. McKenzie, J. F., Neiger, B. L., Thackeray, R. (2016). Planning, implementing evaluating health promotion programs: A primer. Pearson. McKenzie, J., Pinger, R., Kotecki, J. (2011).An introduction to community health. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Minkler, M. (Ed.). (2012).Community organizing and community building for health and welfare. Rutgers University Press. Mitzlaff, F., Atzmueller, M., Benz, D., Hotho, A., Stumme, G. (2011). Community assessment using evidence networks. InAnalysis of Social Media and Ubiquitous Data(pp. 79-98). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Nutbeam, D., Harris, E., Wise, W. (2010).Theory in a nutshell: a practical guide to health promotion theories. McGraw-Hill. Gupta, K. (2011).A practical guide to needs assessment. John Wiley Sons. Stamler, L. L., Yiu, L., Dosani, A. (Eds.). (2016).Community health nursing: A Canadian perspective. Pearson. Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J. (2015). Public Health Nursing-E-Book: Population-Centered Health Care in thste Community. Elsevier Health Sciences.