Posted: March 28th, 2021

Understanding your community The “Data Collection Guide”

Understanding your community

The “Data Collection Guide” is your roadmap as you research a health problem in a community. This guide will pose questions for the first three phases of the Precede-Proceed model: the social, epidemiological, and educational assessments. You will use these data for PC 3 (Due 2/12/2020), PC 4 (Due 2/26/2020), and your Problem Statement Paper (Due 3/9/2020).

Phase I
Social Assessment
(Community, health status, & quality of life)

Explore and define the community
● What community have you chosen?
● How are you defining it? (i.e. zip code, voting district, city boundaries, county, state, school district, etc.)
● What is the geographic location?
● What are the characteristics of the community?
o Natural setting and landscape
o Built environment
● How is the local community experience different than other communities around the state/nation/world?
● What are the assets and strengths of the community?
Demographic Profile
● Who lives in the community?
● Population breakdown by age, race/ethnicity, SES, etc.
● What are the sub-populations? (i.e. race/ethnicity, age, gender, etc.)
o You will want to focus on one of the sub-populations in the community as your priority population
o Who is your chosen priority population?
● Where does the priority population live?
o How does this compare to other sub-populations in the community?
● How does priority population compare to other populations?
● How is the priority population’s local community experience different than other communities around the state/nation/world? Make relevant comparisons (i.e. urban to urban area).
Quality of Life
● What is quality of life? What indicators are being used?
● What is the quality of life for the priority population?
o What is the quality of life for other community members?
o Good/bad for who? Why? (Back up claims with research.)
o What are the strengths, assets, capacities of the priority population that can help foster change?
Health Status
● What is the overall health status of people in the community?
● What are the key health issues impacting the priority population?
o How do these issues relate to other sub-population(s)? The community overall?
o What are new/emerging health issues impacting the priority population?
● What are the differences in exposure to risk or protective factors among members of the priority population?
● Have there been any significant changes (trends) over time?
Comparisons to other communities
● How does the quality of life and health status of this priority population/community compare to other populations/communities?
o Of similar demographics …
o Neighboring communities …
o In relation to Healthy People 2020 or another national benchmark.
Community Resources
● Are there other agencies and/or programs addressing the high priority health issues?
● What resources are specific to priority population?
● What gaps in services exist?
Other
● Any additional points of interest in the community? (e.g. politics, history, activism.)

Phase II
Epidemiological Assessment & Profile
(Disease etiology, rates, contributing factors)

Disease/Health Issue Etiology
● Select one health issue, identified in the previous research that disproportionately affects the priority population, to explore in depth in the problem statement.
● Define/explain the health problem.
● What are the cause(s) of the condition?
● How is it transmitted or acquired?
● What are the consequences?
● What other conditions (if any) are co-occurring?
● What are the costs (monetary and societal) of the health issue?
● What are the protective factors?
Rates
● What are the incidence and prevalence rates?
● How does the priority population rate compare to other sub-groups, the community, other communities, etc.?
● Are there disparities? Among who?
● How have the rates changed over time? What are they expected to do in the future?
Contributing Behavioral and Environmental Factors
● What are the behaviors that exacerbate risk or lead to health issue/disease in the priority population? Other populations?
● What are the environmental factors that increase risk or lead to health issue/disease in the priority population? Other populations?
● How do genetics influence the health issue (if at all)?
● Are there differences in the way the contributing factors interact with sub-populations?
● Which contributing factors are most influential with your selected priority population? How did you make this decision?

Phase III
Educational Assessment
(social determinants, attitudes, values, beliefs, barriers)

Social determinants
● What are the social determinants that influence this health issue? (consider education, poverty, access to healthcare, racism, policy).
Key behavioral contributing factors
Use the key behavioral and environmental factors identified in Phase II, to explore why these behavioral and environmental factors occur within the priority population, thereby contributing to a health disparity.
● What are the attitudes towards each of the behavioral factors and the health issue?
o Who has these attitudes?
▪ Priority population? Friends? Family? Providers? Community members?
● What are the beliefs towards the behavioral contributing factor(s) and the health issue?
o Who has these beliefs?
▪ Priority population? Friends? Family? Providers? Community members?
● What are the environmental barriers that influence the contributing factors?
o What is lacking?
▪ In community supports
▪ In the physical environment
▪ In the healthcare system
▪ In organizations
● How have these attitudes, beliefs, barriers changed over time?
Key environmental contributing factors
● What are the attitudes towards the environmental factor(s) and the health issue?
o Who has these attitudes?
▪ Priority population? Friends? Family? Providers? Community members?
● What are the beliefs towards the environmental factor(s) and the health issue?
o Who has these beliefs?
▪ Priority population? Friends? Family? Providers? Community members?
● What are the environmental barriers that influence the contributing factors?
o What is lacking?
▪ In community supports
▪ In the physical environment
▪ In the built environment
▪ In the healthcare system
▪ In the agencies and/or organizations that serve the community
● How have these attitudes, beliefs, barriers changed over time?