I assisted in writing the Army Medical Department’s training initiative to reintegrate education and training on Smallpox among the Army’s medical hospitals and clinics and to all Army medical personnel. My boss has us develop a comprehensive list of both skills and knowledge regarding everything from recognizing symptoms, diagnosis, PPE usage, individual and unit response to active or suspected cases, vaccinating, etc… We then made a list of all medical specialties, to include dental and veterinary. We then met with various Army medical department leaders to assist us in associating appropriate knowledge and skills to all medical specialties. Because we had less than a year to develop and incorporate the training throughout the Army’s Medical Center and School, this process, although frustrating and tedious, made sure that we developed the right type of training for the right people in a short amount of time. I will admit that the needs analysis part felt like it took so long, and there were days I wondered if we were wasting time. My boss was adamant that it be done correctly and as frustrating as the process was, it did work. It worked so well, that other medical organizations around the country began asking for our needs assessment so they could begin developing their training. 

We did an initial assessment for seed to supper classes for participants who hadn't taken part in the course yet. We wanted to gauge their current garden practices, where their current gardening knowledge was at and if they would be interested in learning how to grow as a community. We had potential grant funding for raised beds for community organizations in the area and wanted to figure out whether the majority of participants were growing at home or were looking to grow in a community setting. I found the survey useful in determining where participants were at. Being a class that we were offering to senior citizens, we also asked if people were looking for transportation which helped us access their needs in transportation and if the proposed time frame of class worked for them (to ensure they were able to make all six classes). The survey was helpful and it gave us a little more understanding on each potential participant and some needs would not have been addressed if we didn't ask the right questions. For instance, is there anything else we need to know? Ie: trouble hearing

Great question. I rarely find that the needs assessments that I have received have been well-done. For me, I have better success identifying ways in which assessmetns have not been successful. For example, a work group that I am in recently worked to create an assessment of its members to determine professional development needs. The results covered all the topics that members wanted to see, but the resulting survey that went out to the members was LONG. It ended up having a low participation rate, and I feel that the length of the survey may have been prohibitive to some. It might have been better to have prioritized fewer questions. There was also some terminology in the questions that I feel may not have been general enough for all members.

I have found that needs assessments were not something that my program area utilized prior to me joining. I have taken the first step, which has been surveying our current youth and families about needs and interests, but there is still much work to be done. Moving forward, I'd like to break into communities that we are not currently serving (which there are a lot of, and it's quite a diverse group of communities) to have a better idea of what our county as a whole needs. The surveys that we've distributed amongst our current population have been very insightful and have helped steer our programming. We have found that our families are comfortable giving honest feedback and it's helped us realize that there are quite a few gaps and/or areas of interest that we can address moving forward.

Back in my previous CCE role (NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities coordinator at CCE Schuyler), I organized a convening of some of the municipalities I had assisted in the program, with the goal of conducting a needs assessment to determine their needs/barriers with adopting clean energy and sustainability actions. The folks involved included municipal officials and volunteers from those communities, colleagues at CCE Schuyler and CCE Tompkins, and an Extension critical issue lead. It was daunting to lead the conversation (it took the form of essentially a focus group), but was inspiring to see so many of the folks I had previously assisted in the program meet each other, share ideas between communities, and demonstrate their excitement about the work. This event contributed positively to the program, as one of the outcomes was a list of needs from our communities on how CCE could assist them moving forward.

One of the most successful needs assessment processes I was a part of was in developing a Mobile Market program for my community. I had been hired to spearhead the project, funded with a grant, and I had no idea where to start. This was in 2018 when Mobile Market research was in it's infancy (today there is the Veggie Van research center at the University of Buffalo, as well as an annual conference and international committee!). However, we started by researching successful programs, and found several across the country, the most robust being based out of Rochester. I went to several conferences, a few on campus actually, and was able to meet some of these mobile market leaders. Some were more helpful than others, but it was very impactful to meet with 'experts'. After deciding on a model that we felt may work best for our community, we began a surveying process to confirm that decision. We drafted a short survey, that included questions on where people would like to see a market visit, what types of vegetables/fruits, and feedback on cost. I spent several months conducting the survey in person at various locations, attempting to reach the target audience, lower income individuals and families living in food deserts. This included visiting food pantries, our soup kitchen, libraries, school events, and simply walking the street. I am not a shy person so I was not afraid to go up to groups or individuals and explain what I was trying to organize. Our first year we offered everything for free using coupons funded by a local insurance agent. This was in response to most participants stating they had zero disposable income to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. We ended up visiting the soup kitchen, local library, and local health center weekly, and our first year had over 500 transactions. To this day, I am still very friendly with many community members, including several homeless friends, and families who help me to spread the word on new programs or services I am working on, and this has followed me into my career with Cornell. What made this so successful, was listening to the community. Our board did not want to offer food for free, and many didn't want to even visit our market when it visited 'bad neighborhoods'. But myself and our advisory team and volunteers were insistent on what we felt the assessment illustrated and I believe it was this foundation that led to the programs success. 8 years later the program has evolved into two mobile market trucks that visit 11 different towns/cities in our county, and provides over $40,000 worth of produce to the community; through various programs built such as Veggie RX, and the acceptance of FMNP coupons, many of the customers continue to get produce for free. I am proud it can continue to flourish!

In my current role, we utilize "Feedback" forms for our summer day camp programs. Every Thursday, of every week of camp we hand out feedback forms to the parents/caregivers when they are waiting in the pick-up line. One staff member is in charge of handing out the Feedback forms and giving out pencils. Parents/caregivers have the opportunity to complete it right then and there while they wait or bring it back the next day (or even next week!) The person handing out the Feedback forms goes to every car and offers them a Feedback form. The person in the car can say yes or no, but regardless everyone in the pick-up line is asked. Staff then collect the completed Feedback forms once the parent receives their child.
It feels good when we get Feedback forms because it shows that families care about our program to give us positive, negative, or constructive feedback in order to better our program. These feedback forms are sometimes completed by the campers too! Almost all of the completed Feedback forms we collect, we share with our staff. Depending on the Feedback forms we are able to address some issues right in the moment or the next week. Some of the larger programmatic suggestions are taken into account the following summer. One suggestion was the change in day camp registration date and time.
This process involved Camp Leadership, summer camp staff, parents/caregivers of campers, and campers themselves!

I have to admit - taking the time to craft a needs assessment has become a favorite for me. I like to dig in and read what others have written, look at what the data that I can find tells me, talk to others and document their responses...and draft something that documents needs. I say draft because I tend to shop my ideas around or put it in the hands of others who might have an opinion (or have to sign off on it). This works well when there is adequate time to dig in, craft something, and nudge others for feedback. Perhaps this is thinking like a SNAIL...but slowing down to create something valuable helps me speed up when others are (or funding is) ready.

I have not done much needs assessment in the past and am looking forward to having the flexibility in my new role to respond independently to meet unique county-specific needs. I'm also looking forward to being able to have a "pet project" of introducing kids to the world of draft horses that I can use to connect them with our county 4-H program.

In some ways with the SNAP-Ed grant the assessment of the communities and school district's needs are outlined for us educators in our RFP (request for proposal) of the grant. Which that data is funneling in from surveys, feedback from educators out doing the work, and compiling data taken from each individual counties need assessment posted out by the NYS Department of Health. Once we have numbers of obesity rates, cardiac visit rates, diabetes diagnoses, and other health related concerns that nutrition addresses. This data is then discussed with county executive directors of each region as well as educators staff and we usually discuss which area of need we want to highlight and focus on for the next 5 year grant cycle. For example obesity rates due to poor physical health by adults is increasing in our Southwestern region and part of the reports or reasoning on that was a request in communities for more parks, hiking and biking trails, and workplace requests for time for stretch/ walk/ activity breaks. These are things I hope to address in my project of workplace walking trails.

I was involved with a program that was designed to help young growers that were grandfathered in to farming to provide them with the tools and resources that would help them succeed. After several meetings and monitoring our forum we realized that many of the issues were family relations. We then decided to bring on a licensed therapist that specialized within the farming community to provide guidance on how to navigate difficult conversations between generations. The post survey evaluation told us that this was one of the most helpful resources we provided.

I am still new at CCE so my depth of experience here is limited, but I have found a great deal of success in assessing needs by having one on one conversations with farmers. I came into my project thinking many farmers would jump at the opportunity to try distributing their produce into NYC. However, I quickly found out that most that wanted to do it, were already making it happen on their own. Similarly, I heard a lot of stories about how the farmers tried it out and didn't find success. Both the wins and loses offered great lessons on what direction I should take the program moving forward. I have a survey for famers to fill out, but I see it more as a formal application to participate in the program rather than the best way to steer the program. The one on one conversations I have had allowed the farmers to express themselves more fully and brought up things through their own experiences that I had never considered. One farmer even mentioned that they would budget $100 per trip into the city on their distribution run for the sole purpose of covering parking tickets they would likely receive because the only way to make many deliveries would be to double park illegally. This challenge, among many others, I would have never thought of without that direct feedback from farmers who have tried to distribute to NYC.

NYSERDA tasked the Energy Hubs across the state to complete a "Regional Assessment and Barriers Analysis (RABA)" for each of our respective Hub's regions, with the idea that we will update it each year. Our Southern Tier Hub designed three sets of questions: one for the general public, another for insulation/heat pump/solar contractors, and a third for partner agencies/organizations. We then completed interviews with the contractors and partners, and surveyed the public by talking with people in line for food distributions, calling people we had provided energy advising too, and setting up tables outside certain stores. As a group, we analyzed all the survey/interview responses and drew out common themes. Our Hub's director had help from several volunteers, Cornell staff, and other research experts to craft these questions and analyze the data. The final report includes a summary of our region's demographic trends, including trends in age, race, heating fuel, rent vs. own, followed by a summary of our interview findings, and a series of proposed steps to address the identified core issues. Steps include some our team can take, and some that are for other parties to address.

This was a very collaborative needs assessment. The resulting document is something we can share with stakeholders, and it has already helped us identify campaigns and special projects we've started. For example, the RABA points to home repairs as a key obstacle preventing folks from participating in energy efficiency upgrade programs, such as EmPower+. We now have a campaign working with Impact Project to help repair roofs, hopefully leading to energy upgrades via EmPower+. We had observed this home repair issue before the RABA, but the RABA lays out proof of why such a campaign is worthwhile.

Recently, I was tasked with developing a solar energy educational session for community members. While planning this, we created and presented a survey prior to planning the specific subject matter so we could determine where general interests were. Unfortunately, although there has been interest and concerns raised in solar energy in recent months in my community, there was not a lot of response to the survey. However, I think just those few responses were helpful for a starting point and the session ended up going smoothly. In the future however, I would like to develop this survey more (include some open-ended questions) and come up with ways to engage with more people to really determine what exactly people might need (education, resources, being connected with professionals, etc).

I have had limited experience with formal needs assessments. In my Extension role (less than 12 months), needs assessment has mainly been through direct communication with producers to identify their pressing issues and areas they want to learn about. As trends develop from producer to producer I have created programs.

I am currently witnessing a needs assessment in one of my counties. They received grant money to develop, market, publish, and analyze a big survey in the agriculture community to identify the needs and desires of the producers. The county just received the initial results to analyze so it is too early to determine the success. Creation of the survey involved all the members of the Ag staff to ensure questions involving all aspects of the Ag team and that requests to complete the survey were sent to a broad audience.

Personally, I have not been a part of actually conducting a needs assessment, but I have reviewed data collected by other agencies such as community assessments, CHIPs, and Census sites. I use data from these sites about our local population in success stories and annual reports to demonstrate the need for our program. I include diet-related disease statistics in our community for things such as rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I also include information regarding intake and access of fresh fruits and vegetables, physical activity, and access to green spaces. These numbers demonstrate a significant need for nutrition education in our community.

Specifically for this project, I additionally looked for information regarding locations accepting FMNP Checks, FMNP redemption rates, and access and barriers to fresh produce. As I am working on coordinating the Veggie Van, I reviewed information from other counties who have previously participated in the Veggie Van Program. I also spend A LOT of time on the Mobile Market Federation site, which provides the full toolbox for the Veggie Van. My Executive Director and a representative from the Steuben County Office for the Aging looked at what other regions were doing to solve this problem and some people had Mobile Markets or Veggie Vans which required hiring a part-time or a full-time staff member, investment in an organization vehicle and access to fresh produce, storage and refrigeration. This helped us decide on structuring a more cost-effective Veggie Van model as it was determined that other Veggie Van models require a budget of over $100,000.

It's been a while since I worked with needs assessments. I remember that when I was an undergraduate student working in a research lab focused on mangroves and seagrass monitoring in C.R. we did community outreach in which we held focus groups and surveys. However, I was more involved in the application and not development of them. I remember inputing lots of survey data into Excel sheets. :)

It wasn't until grad school that we covered needs assessments in a research class. In my current position, I have not been involved in any but I do believe that we will focus on this with our new K-12 leader so we can figure out where the program will be headed.

The most recent time was to to some strategic planning for the a soil health Program. They hired a facilitator and gathered various stakeholders who were interested/invested in improving the project. The goals of the strategic planning session were to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and come up with a 5 year vision. The meeting had value to keep the face-face connections alive for sustaining the program, but it wasn't clear what came out of the meeting. So I learned that it's important to provide some summarized outcomes from a meeting like that if you plan to do it so folks can feel like the meeting had value going forward.