Knowledge Bank

Needs Analysis

November 30, -0001, Evaluation Observatory

A need is commonly understood as a gap between “what is” and “what should be”. A need analysis is a systematic method of collecting and analysing data to determine the needs of an affected population against an agreed standard with respect to their current situation. A needs analysis also involves an examination of the causes, so as to set the right priorities - real and practical solutions – for the future.

For a broad overview

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• Information Sheet on Stories of Most Significant Change:

  Developed by Save the Children, Norway, this toolkit talks about the use of MSC to understand the values expressed by children and young adults on the benefits of child rights initiatives.

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• Comprehensive Needs Assessment

  Published by the US Department of Education, this resource provides a comprehensive overview of the foundational concepts in needs assessments using flow charts. It answers - What is a needs assessment? What steps are involved in conducting a needs assessment? What aspects of a needs assessment are important to its success?

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• Needs Assessment

  Developed by WHO, this resource highlights the importance of needs assessment in humanitarian settings with a particular focus on assessing health needs. It gives an overview of its definitions, types, responsibilities, the steps involved in needs assessment, and the tools.

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• Seven Steps for Conducting a Successful Needs Assessment

  Published by National Institute for Children’s Health Quality, this resource explains the steps involved in a successful needs assessment in seven simple steps.

Videos

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• Community Skills: Needs Assessment

  The Video resource developed by the National University of Singapore illustrates needs assessment through the example of a differently abled student.

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• The Challenge of Consistency when Carrying out Needs Assessment

  Peter Walker who is who is director at Tufts University shares his experiences of carrying out needs assessments in Canada.

For in depth understanding

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• A Guide to Assessing Needs

  Developed and Published by World Bank, this resource provides an indepth introduction of conducting a Needs Assessment. It includes FAQs, steps to conduct a successful needs assessment successfully alongside providing practitioners with tools, techniques and management and implementation guides and checklists.

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• Needs Assessment: A Creative and Practical Guide for Social Scientists

  Edited by Rebecca Reviere, Susan Berkowitz, Carolyn C. Carter, Carolyn Ferguson, this resource discusses research design, sample survey and methodologies to conduct a needs assessment. It also includes case studies on topics like AIDS, Maternal Health.

Case Study

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• h: Needs Assessment

  Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership has developed this resource guide providing an overview of health needs assessment, focusing on need assessment approaches and processes relevant to the Family Health Team (FHT) practice, which are formalized groups of primary care providers, wherein physicians deliver care in concert with other health care professionals such as nurses, dietitians, patient educators, social workers etc.

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• Needs Assessment Workbook by WHO

  Developed by WHO, this workbook intends to educate programme staff on the evaluation of services for the treatment of psychoactive substance use disorders. It answers the ‘What’, ‘Why and ‘How’ to do a Needs Assessment, and contains case studies on outpatient care for drugdependent patients in Barcelona (Spain) (p. 29), and Needs assessment to determine the service needs in the Eastern Transvaal, Republic of South Africa (p. 42).

Humanitarian Needs

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• Video: Disaster Needs Analysis

  Developed by ACAPS, this resource illustrates the application of needs assessment to effective disaster management.

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• Video: Three Keys for Humanitarian Needs Assessments

  From ACAPs, Richard Garfield who is professor at Columbia University explains the significance and process of needs assessment using the Pakistan floods as sample case study.

Toolkits

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• Tools Used in Needs Assessment

  From the World Bank, this visual resource provides practitioners with conceptual understanding and tools required to conduct a needs assessment.