Identification & Engagement of Stakeholders-Samples for Students

Question: Discusss about the Identification and Engagement of Stakeholders. Answer: Introduction Community assessment essentially pinpoints the strengths as well as resources that are at the disposal of a community to ensure that the needs of the youth, children, and families are met. The fundamental purpose of community assessment is to come up with concrete strategies to tackle the needs of the community. Community assessment is beneficial since the strengths and weaknesses of a community are identified, appropriate decision is able to be made since data is readily available and the community members are able to better understand their needs (Mpofu Oakland, 2014). The purpose of this report is to closely look at the steps involved in community assessment and how they contribute to tackling the needs of the community. Identification and engagement of stakeholders This is the first step that should be carried out as far as community assessment is concerned. Community members must be recruited to serve in the community group. These create a sense of joint ownership of the process hence trust is built. Those chosen must include individuals that are respected in the community since they are in a position to better represent the interests of the whole community. The groups must also welcome people from minority groups, experts in public health, individuals with chronic disease needs as well as low-income population. These group members are fundamental since it is their duty to review the data received and pinpoint and prioritize the needs of the community as far as health is concerned (Calgary, 2016). Define the Community This is the second step as far as community assessment is concerned. The community is essentially a group of people who tend to have different characteristics but share common perspectives. Defining the community is fundamental since it dictates the scope of assessment as well as intervention. The definition of community can be made more inclusive by bringing community members and patient into the conversation (Royer, 2015). Collecting and Analyzing Data This is the third step as far as community assessment is concerned. Data analysis is essentially the process of inspecting, cleansing and modifying data with the primary aim of discovering crucial information. Secondary data is compiled for the purposes of sharing with the group members. This data is also essential since it will be the foundation for the decisions and analysis that will be made in the meetings. Secondary data can comprise of demographic information, clinical care measures, levels of insurance, causes of death, environmental factors, childrens health as well as preventive measures. Information on how the hospital service areas were defined as well as the services and community benefits it provides should also be compiled too. Community stakeholders can complement quantitative data through interviews, surveys, community meeting as well as focus groups. Collecting and analysis of data will help particularly in ranking the health needs of the community (Butt, 2013). Choosing Primacy Community Health Issues This is the fourth step as far as community assessment is concerned. This involves selecting community health issues based on priority. This step is guided mainly by the qualitative and quantitative data that is collected and analyzed in the third step. The healthcare system and the stakeholders in the community can also play a crucial role in this step since they can explain the urgency of issues hence providing crucial information that is used in making final decisions as far as health care is concerned. Community members automatically feel more invested in the outcome especially when their views are considered and respected especially in regards to the urgency of the issues (Royer, 2015). Document and Communicate This is the fifth step as far as community assessment is concerned. In this step, documents are shared with the stakeholders before finalization so that their feedback and recommendation can be put into consideration before finalizing everything. Some of the crucial information they can provide feedback includes but not limited to the format of the document, language level as well as the length of the document. Through the provision of additional feedback, it is possible to know if there is a need for the document to be translated into languages and the best form of communication that would reach the subpopulations of the community. Those community members who were involved in the community assessment group can be called upon by the health system to act as community emissaries preaching on the needs assessment outcomes (Butt, 2013). Plan Improvement Strategies This is the sixth step as far as community assessment is concerned. Planning is essentially the process of organizing activities in such a way that the intended goal is achieved. In community assessment, community stakeholders are involved in the entire improvement planning process since they comments will be crucial as far as feasibility and acceptability of the strategies in the community are concerned. Furthermore, people who are involved the process will highly appreciate the opportunity to be part of the solution (Crouch Meurier, 2015). Implementing Improvement Plans This is the seventh step as far as community assessment is concerned. Improvement plans are strategies that can in one way or another improve the health of community members. This step involved executing those plans as dictated by step six. The evidence-based interventions pointed out in step six are customized in this step by simply engaging the community stakeholders and patients. This generates a sense of shared responsibility and fosters dialogue (Harris, 2016). Evaluation of Progress This is the eighth and final step as far as community assessment is concerned. Progress evaluation involves taking stock of where things are. Patients, families, as well as community members, are involved in providing opinions on how the implementation is developing and the sort of alterations that need to be made. Reflecting and strategizing with community members are encouraged for the purpose of knowing what works well and what should be improved (Amugi-crouch Meurier, 2015). Conclusion All in all, the purpose of community assessment is to come up with concrete strategies to tackle the needs of the community. Interventional assessment is virtually comprehensive but future planning should be incorporated in the steps. Future planning is recommended since it ensures that the strategies being implemented do not just solve current issues but also those that are projected to occur in future (Loue, Lloyd O'Shea, 2014). References Amugi-crouch, A., Meurier, C. (2015).Vital Notes for Nurses: Health Assessment. Oxford: John Wiley Sons. Butt, G. (2013).Making assessment matter. London: Continuum. Calgary (Alta.). (2016).A handbook for conducting a community assessment. Calgary, AB: The Dept. Harris, M. J. (2016).Evaluating Public and Community Health Programs. Newark: Wiley. In Crouch, A. T., In Meurier, C. (2015).Health assessment. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Loue, S., Lloyd, L. S., O'Shea, D. (2003).Community health advocacy. New York: Kluwer Academic. Top of Form Mpofu, E., Oakland, T. (2014).Rehabilitation and health assessment: Applying ICF guidelines. New York: Springer.Bottom of Form Royer, P. S. (2015).Project health assessment: A conceptual tool kit. New York: Wiley