INFORM ME: ASSESSING THE NEED

Priority Population Needs Assessment
In our section on Program Planning and Evaluation (link to page) we discuss how to conduct a community needs assessment. Assessing the needs of a priority population is a more narrowly tailored version of the broad community needs assessment. In this regard, you are trying to get a sense of the tobacco use, education and prevention activity in a sub-group of the community, and to establish a set of priority actions to eliminate the tobacco problem in a specific sub-group (priority population).

Methods
Collect data for sub-group needs assessments using a variety of methods including self-reporting, written questionnaires, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, direct observation and existing information sources. Which ever method you use, remember that you are trying to determine:

• Tobacco use behavior
• Reasons for using tobacco
• Tobacco use in the socialization process
• Knowledge of the health risks associated with tobacco
• Current cessation efforts
• Attitudes towards second-hand smoke

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