Community Assessments are the first step in a larger planning process for communities seeking to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes. See also:

For more on assessing community resources:

…for Adolescent Sexual Health

A thorough community needs and resources assessment is a research and planning activity that will help you develop the adolescent pregnancy and STD/HIV prevention strategy that best fits your community. It can also be a powerful tool to call your community to action.

 

Defining Community

Before we start with the assessment process, it is helpful to clarify what we mean by community. Often data are presented by political/geographical units such as counties or zip codes. These do not necessarily describe the social environments young people grow up in. When gathering qualitative data on adolescent sexual risk-taking behaviors and the risk and protective factors that influence these behaviors (see below), it will be necessary to consider different geographical boundaries such as neighborhoods, school districts, etc.

 

Community Needs Assessment

Demographics and Prevalence

The first step in any prevention effort is to describe the problem as it exists now. What are the adolescent pregnancy and STD/HIV rates in our community? Demographic data are also important to help us understand who is most affected. Some of this information may be available in these NYS Web-based Data Sources (pdf).

 

Risk and Protective Factors

To plan effective interventions we also need to describe the risk and protective factors that influence youth in our community. Research tells us that there are many risk and protective factors that influence adolescent sexual risk-taking behaviors.

Risk and protective factors are numerous and diverse. They are rooted in:

  • Communities (exposure to violence and substance use)

  • Families (expressed sexual values, relationship and communication with parents, presence of both biological parents)

  • Friends and peers (poor performance in school, drug use, permissive and unprotected sex)

  • Romantic partners (e.g. older boyfriend)

  • Individual’s own sexual values and attitudes (strongest connection to sexual behavior)

  • Non-sexual factors such as plans for the future, etc.

For a detailed description see Sexual Risk & Protective Factors (pdf) by Kirby and Lepore, published by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Community data on risk and protective factors are not as easily available. Existing community assessments may be useful (e.g., United Way), and data can also be collected through surveys and interviews of individuals and groups such as:

  • Adolescents

  • Stakeholders working with youth (YMCA, DSS, prevention providers, youth ministries, community centers, foster care, etc)

  • Health care providers (pediatricians, school nurses, hospitals, clinics, etc)

  • School staff (school surveys, special education classes)

For help planning how to collect the information you'll need, use this Data Collection Planning Tool.

 

Community Resources Assessment

A detailed and community-specific needs assessment is just the first step to a comprehensive community assessment. If we are to meet these needs, we would do well to understand the strengths available through a good resources assessment of our community. The Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) framework offers an innovative, strengths-based approach to doing just that.

 

  • ACT for Youth invited Robert Francis, ABCD faculty member, to introduce youth workers and planners in the field of adolescent sexual health to the ABCD approach in this 20-minute presentation on Community Resources Assessment.

  • The ABCD Institute has also published the helpful community mobilization manual Discovering Community Power (pdf). Of special interest are the sample community asset map (pages 15-16) and the sample organizational asset map (pages 19-20).

 

Community Resources Wheel – Activity

Think broadly about sectors in the community that might have resources and assets to share with you to develop an effective prevention initiative. Use this Community Resources Wheel (pdf) as a worksheet. Each section in the community wheel represents a different sector. Some sectors might have been unlikely partners in the past. Thinking about your community, start by concretely naming groups and organizations you know in each sector. Consider resources they might have that could be helpful for a prevention initiative, or think about possible contributions they might make to a prevention initiative.

This Resources Assessment Tool can also be used to detail a community’s resources.