Conducting a community needs

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Conducting a community needs strengths
assessment through a student service learning
project in Seat Pleasant
Shea McCall, BA Sharon Desmond, PhD Robert
Gold, PhD, DrPH
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The Partnership

• A collaboration between the city of Seat Pleasant
  and the University of Maryland
• Provides information to city council members
• Provides services to Seat Pleasant residents
• Offers a community setting where students can
  turn classroom learning into real-life practice
• Offers research opportunities for university
  faculty and students

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The Service Learning Project

• Graduate students in a Program Planning and
  Evaluation course conducted a preliminary needs
  assessment in the community
• The PRECEDE/PROCEED Model served as the
  foundation for their work
• Needs assessment results were presented to
  faculty, and each student proposed a community
  intervention
• Faculty then shared the information with the Seat
  Pleasant City Council members

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Service learning work plan

• According to the model, 3 student groups were
  created to conduct assessments
• Social
• self-administered survey of seniors
• Epidemiological
• random telephone survey of residents
• Behavioral and Environmental
• face-to-face stakeholder interviews using SWOT
  analysis

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Problems Encountered

• Defining Seat Pleasant city limits
• Defining community member
• Securing epidemiological data specific to Seat
  Pleasant
• Contacting county health officials, senior
  residents, stakeholders
• Controlling for interviewer bias in data
  collection and interpretation
• Coordinating student efforts in such a small city

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Strengths

• The residents themselves
• The active senior population
• Sense of community
• Willingness to participate in programs
• Community pride
• Perception of community improvement
• The transportation system
• The proximity to Washington, DC
• Parks and recreation facilities and services
• Accessible and responsive local government
• Seat Pleasant Day community fair

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Issues

• Youth loitering
• High rates of violent crime and crimes against
  property
• Large number of absentee landlords, vacant houses
• Single parent homes
• Illegal drug activity
• Fear is keeping children and seniors indoors
• Isolation of seniors
• Lack of middle-age population

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Lessons learned

• Different data collection methods contribute to
  understanding in different ways
• Qualitative data may explain seemingly
  contradictory quantitative data
• Contradictory data may still be valid and
  represent real perceptions
• Important themes or phenomena turn up repeatedly
  across data collection strategies

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Proposed Interventions

• Activities that get youth and seniors to work
  together
• Conversion of abandoned houses into
• Youth and senior centers
• Habitat for Humanity homes for community members
• Creation of a cultural center with dance, music,
  and art classes
• Establishment of after-school health education
  classes

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Tips for service learning in the community

• Before working with a community
• Find out what previous efforts in the community
  succeeded or failed and heed the lessons learned
• Find an official map or establish community
  boundaries
• Consider pros and cons of including community
  members who may not be residents

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Tips for service learning in the community (cont.)

• A project coordinator must be identified to
• coordinate contact between community members and
  students
• act as an official liaison between community and
  university
• Do a detailed walk-through of the community
• Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment before
  planning interventions

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Tips for service learning in the community (cont.)

• If requesting information from people, send a
  written request ahead of time or in addition to a
  call
• Practice using data-collection instruments before
  going into the community
• Need for flexibility in the field without
  compromising research objectives
• Promote the partnership within the community

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From assessment to intervention

• Activities proposed following the assessments
• Health fair at annual Seat Pleasant Day
  celebration
• Study of Childrens Health Insurance Project in
  the city and enrollment of eligible children
• Community health resource guide
• Computer course for Seat Pleasant seniors

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From Assessment to intervention (cont.)

• Comprehensive needs and strengths assessment
• Health screenings around the city
• After-school health education classes
• Wellness Mobile visits elementary schools

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